Bhubaneswar, Dec. 18: Police are on the lookout for the chairman of Sai Kripa Plus Two Residential College in Dhenkanal who has been accused of sexually harassing girl students.

College principal Tushar Mohanty had been arrested yesterday for allegedly ignoring the complaints and physically torturing the girls. He was later released on bail.

“The college chairman, Annada Prasad Mohanty, is on the run. We had received a complaint from the district child protection officer on Monday night about the torture,” said inspector in charge of Town police station Manas Ranjan Gadnaik.

Sources said Annada Prasad brought girl students to his chamber with the help of the hostel warden and showed them obscene pictures and videos on his mobile phone.

On several occasions, he attempted to molest the girls.

The students had complained to the principal on several occasions, but were beaten up instead.

Subsequently, they started vacating their hostel and, along with their parents, approached the district child protection officer, Anuradha Goswami, who conducted an independent probe into the allegations.

“We verified the allegations and found them to be true. We have sent a report to the government for further action,” said Goswami.

The state government has asked the college management for an explanation within seven days.

“This is a serious allegation and we will take stringent action against the authorities if they are found guilty,” said additional secretary of higher education department Durga Prasad Behera.

Incidentally, the department constituted a state-level sexual harassment cell yesterday, which would respond to such allegations in government, aided and self-financing colleges. The police, however, said they had not received any specific complaints of sexual abuse by the chairman.

“The girls said such incidents happened off-and-on. But, we are yet to get any specific complaints in this regard,” said Gadnaik.