Bolpur college ransacked over ragging row

BOLPUR: An allegation of ragging by a first-year student at a private college in Bolpur led to a pandemonium at the campus on Saturday. The college authority was forced to declare closure of the institution sine die following the trail of events.

On Thursday, a first-year student complained to the college authority that he had been ragged by senior students. The authority asked him to go on leave and promised to take action against the accused, if found guilty. After investigation, they were indeed found blameworthy. It was decided that disciplinary action will be taken against those senior students.

However, the decision did not go well with the second-year students. In an act of vengeance, they raided the hostel of the first-year students on Friday night. When they tried to break into the rooms of their juniors, they were resisted by college employees, who became the target of their wrath and ended up being beaten severely.

Sensing trouble, the college authority declared closure sine die on early Saturday morning and asked the students to vacate the hostels. Before leaving the hostel, second-year students ransacked the hostel for the second time. Bolpur Police rushed to the college and controlled the situation.

"We had informed the authority unofficially about ragging at the hostel a couple of times earlier. But nobody paid any attention. However, we never thought the situation would go this far," said a first-year student.

Abdus Samad, an official of the college, said, "After our investigation, we found some second-year students guilty. We had decided to call the guardians of the students to take necessary action against them. In the meantime, students became violent and ransacked the college and the hostels. We discussed the issue with the guardians on Saturday. We have set up a committee to find out who were involved in last night's chaos. We have informed the guardians that no unruly students will be allowed to stay at the hostel."