A section of students of Jadavpur University allegedly smashed gates and broke CCTV cameras in two hostels on the campus. These hostels were earmarked for freshers to protect them from ragging.

Those engaged in the violence were allegedly first-year students.

A JU official said these students were upset with the university’s decision
to close the hostel gates by 10pm. They allegedly misbehaved with the hostel superintendents.

The students put a lock on the gate on the first floor of the administrative headquarters (Aurobindo Bhavan) on Thursday evening which leads to the office of vice-chancellor Bhaskar Gupta.

They unlocked the gate early on Friday, after some senior students intervened.

The gates and the CCTVs were damaged in the two hostels — New Block Hostel and Old PG Hostel — located inside the campus which the university earmarked last year to segregate the first-year students to prevent ragging.

A first-year student had allegedly died after ragging in the university’s main hostel, located outside the campus near Jadavpur police station, in August 2023.

The CCTV cameras were installed at the hostels in September 2023, following the incident.

On Friday, one of the protesters said they were opposed to the authorities’ decision to restrict first-year students from going from one hostel to another hostel.

“We are against the decision of closing the gates by 10pm,” he said.

Rajeyshwar Sinha, a professor and member of the university’s hostel distribution committee, said: “It is extremely unfortunate that the students in the name of protest broke the hostel gates and damaged the CCTV cameras. How could they put a lock on the gate that leads to the office of the VC?”

Sinha added: “The VC has called the students’ acts vandalism. He told the pro-VC to bring this to the notice of all university teachers and officials.”

Pro-VC Amitava Datta wrote to the teachers on Friday afternoon: “Please find the message from the vice-chancellor. ‘Sir,... I feel this is an unprecedented situation and that too in the hostel of the freshers, which the university could separate after a lot of effort’.”

The UGC recommends segregation of first-year students to prevent ragging.

JU’s interim VC Gupta told Metro: “Acts of vandalism are not acceptable. Students can make demands and we are ready to listen to those demands. But in the name of protests, they cannot resort to acts of vandalism. Some people are influencing the protesting students.”

“The decision to close the gates by 10pm was taken in consonance with a directive of the UGC,” he added.

A senior student of JU’s engineering faculty said they “also support the first-year students”.

A protesting first-year student said they wanted to speak to the university authorities about their demands for more lights and fans inside their hostels.

Asked about this demand, VC Gupta told this newspaper: “A meeting of the students welfare board has been called on Monday.”