Koraput: The Central University of Odisha, situated at Sunabeda in the district, was closed sine die on Thursday till further orders following agitation by students demanding fulfilment of their 60-point charter of demands.

The university authorities issued the sine die notice on Thursday morning and asked students to vacate the hostels and the campus within three hours. "As there was possibility of violence by the agitating students and a threat to the varsity property, sine die was declared to avoid any eventuality on the campus," said vice-chancellor Sachidananda Mohanty.

Also, a platoon of police was deployed on the campus to avoid any untoward incidents.

Tension gripped the main campus of the varsity on Wednesday evening when a group of students resorted to strike demanding the appointment of permanent professors, round-the-clock health care facilities on the campus, hostel facilities for the research scholars, shifting of the main administrative office from Landiguda to its main campus, 24-hour water supply at the hostels, installation of ATM counter on the campus and the availability of photocopy facilities in the hostels among others.

"Since long, we have been demanding to fulfil our demands, but in vain. Hence, we resorted to dharna on Wednesday evening," a varsity student said.

"In a democratic way, we are staging protest to fulfil our demands. During the protest, we have neither used any abusive language nor have we caused any damage to the varsity property. The reason behind declaring sine die is best known to the vice-chancellor, and we will lawfully accept it," he said.

However, Mohanty said that over 90 per cent of the students' demands had already been fulfilled.

"The appointment of regular faculty requires sanction from the government, and it is in the process," he said.

"Without giving any notice, a group of students suddenly resorted to strike on Wednesday evening. Though we asked them to sit for an amicable solution, they denied," he said.