A three-member committee constituted by Jadavpur University to probe claims that two students were subjected to harassment by then head of the English department during exam supervision because of their community will submit its report on January 29.

On Monday, the members spoke to one of the students and three teachers from the department.

The panel had spoken to the other student on January 5, the day it recorded Saswati Halder’s statement, the former head of the department.

The teacher has since been asked to go on leave, pending the probe.

Two other students from the department who protested the alleged harassment have also had their versions heard.

Tanveer Nasreen, a professor of history from Burdwan University, heads the panel.

“The former department head (Halder) requested us to speak to these teachers and students. We recorded their versions. The committee knows what has happened. We will share our report and recommendations on January 29,” said Nasreen.

Halder is on leave till January 30. Professor Abhijit Gupta now helms the department.

A teacher from the department who spoke to the committee members said he briefed the panel about what exactly unfolded on December 22, when the third-year students were writing their third-semester papers.

“The head of the department wanted to check whether the two students were carrying any Bluetooth-enabled devices. It was not a case of religious profiling as the West Bengal Minorities Commission has alleged. It was unfortunate that Halder was asked to go on leave,” the teacher who did not wish to be named said.

On December 30, a West Bengal Minority Commission team recommended that Halder be barred from campus pending a probe because the university needed to send a message that “it does not tolerate religious profiling”.

Halder told Metro: “I can understand that I hurt the religious sentiments of the students, and I have apologised to them. But I am not sorry for performing my duties as the department’s head and presiding officer of the exam.”

Some students from the department had submitted a complaint to the VC, alleging that the two students were targeted and harassed.

Some of Halder’s questions were offensive and unbecoming of a teacher, a source said.

“Let the committee submit its report. We will study it and take a call,” vice-chancellor Chiranjib Bhattacharjee said.