Bhubaneswar, Feb. 1: Some unidentified criminals vandalised the principal’s office of BJB Autonomous College late last night.

Badagada police said the goons had entered the locked office room by breaking open the ventilator cover, which is situated just above the window behind the room. The police suspect the role of drug addicts in the incident. They have detained the security guard, who was deployed on the campus last night.

Principal Suresh Chandra Patnaik today said it were the college employees who had spotted the broken window. The criminals had even attempted to break open the front door. “When our employees opened the door, all things were found lying scattered in the room. Soon they informed me and I called the police,” said Patnaik.

The principal of the state-run premier institute said some items were missing from the office room, but all other documents were found intact. Whatever things stolen from the office would cost approximately Rs 6,000. Some furniture and other items have been removed from their positions and some of these items, broken.

Sources said students of bio-informatics, a self-financed course, had sat on a protest in front of the principal’s office last afternoon, complaining about the authorities’ indifferent attitude towards their problems. But, the students had ended their protest in the evening following the authorities’ assurance of looking into the issues.

Patnaik dismissed speculations that bio-informatics students were involved in the incident. He said if they had to ransack, they could have thrown stones or broken the front door. “It must be the act of some outsiders. The matter is with the police and let them find the culprits,” said Patnaik.

Inspector in charge of Badagada police station Janardan Padhi said their team had verified the spot. “It seems to be the act of outside criminals or drug addicts, who might have entered the room in search of some easy money. The items stolen from here would give them some money. Drug addicts in the city have been found involved in many such incidents,” said Padhi.

The police said they were interrogating the security guard to elicit information related to the incident. The inspector said the guard pleaded innocence and said he had been on the Arts Block and roaming around the campus when the incident occurred. “We think he might have fallen asleep last night and the criminals took the chance. We are verifying all the angles into the crime,” said Padhi.

This incident raised questions about the security arrangements in colleges and educational institutes in the city. The college has been in news for post-poll campus violence for the past several months and this incident would affect its reputation, the students felt.

The principal said he would discuss the matter with his staff and also elicit their response about increasing security on the campus, especially during night.