Students protest at Dr Abhin Chandra Homoeopathic College and Hospital . Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, July 23: Students of Dr Abhin Chandra Homoeopathic College and Hospital at Kharavela Nagar today went on a rampage, damaging property worth more than Rs 10 lakh on its campus after some of them failed to clear the supplementary tests.

The students alleged that the college authorities were responsible in the failure of seven students in the first-year supplementary test. They damaged one ambulance, several computers, furniture and glass partitions in the college.

“The teachers had threatened us earlier that they would spoil our results and exactly that was reflected in the result published today. When one of the failed students fell unconscious and we requested the authorities to rush her to hospital, they did not pay heed. We had to arrange an autorickshaw to shift the sick student to hospital,” said Santanu Patra, a second-year student of bachelor in homeopathic medicine and surgery.

Patra said though there was an ambulance parked on the campus, the authorities refused to provide it to carry the student to hospital, which infuriated the students. The students alleged that in the past, too, they had staged protests against the shortage of teachers in the college. This was the reason that some teachers had targeted them.

“We did all this to ensure that authorities took steps to solve our problems,” said Sarita Hembram, another second-year student.

Sources said four third-year students and seven first-year students, who had failed in one or more subjects in their annual tests, appeared for supplementary examinations in April. However, when the results were published today, the third-year students passed, but the first-year students failed.

Principal of the college Surya Narayan Mishra said before he could understand anything, the students had started ransacking everything that came in their way. Later, he had informed Kharavela Nagar police, who rushed to the spot.

Dismissing the allegations that the teachers were responsible for students failing to clear the exams in any way, Mishra said the college teachers did not check the examination papers.

“It is the university that arranges evaluation of papers and our teachers have no role in their failure. However, I will talk to the examination controller about the results,” he said. The police said they had received a complaint from the college authorities and were looking into the matter.