Dozen students, university staff injured in Magadh Univ violence

GAYA: About one dozen students and university employees were injured in large scale violence outside the Directorate of Distance Education building in MU premises around noon on Sunday. The injured include NSS coordinator of the university Brajesh Rai.
University security guards and student protesters fought pitched battles near the senate meet venue. The agitated students, quite a large number of whom came in bus loads from neighbouring districts threatened to gate crash into the senate meeting hall to register protest against alleged corruption in the colleges and university head quarters, black marketing of admission forms, extortion of science stream students during practical exams, absenteeism of the teachers and the employees, faculty shortage and sundry other issues.
The protesters indulged in vandalism as they broke open the outer grill of the Distance Education a Directorate building, ransacked the ground floor of the building, destroyed hundreds of flower pots, smashed ground floor building doors, caused extensive damage to more than a dozen vehicles including the vehicles of the VC Prof Md Ishtiaq and Pro VC Kriteshwar Prasad.
As the protestors menacingly moved towards the first floor where the annual senate meet was being held, the university security guards intervened. Besides locking the entry point of the first floor, the security guards rained lathis on the protesters, who in turn retaliated with stone pelting.
A visibly perturbed VC subsequently invited the protesters for talks. The VC and other senior university officials and several senior senate members including former minister Awadhesh Kumar Singh and MLC SanjeevShyam Singh heard out the student protesters.
The agitated protesters blamed Brajesh Rai, Coordinator NSS for the violence and alleged that they (student leaders) simply wanted to present their demands before the university officials and senators but Rai ordered the security guards to drive out the protesters and the university official himself picked up a hockey stick to beat the students. The protesters demanded Rai's immediate arrest and suspension.
MU VC apologised for whatever happened on the campus and constituted a four member inquiry Committe to inquire into the incident. Follow up action would be taken on the basis of the inquiry committee report. Headed by Pro VC Kriteshwar Prasad, the inquiry committee included Sadar SDO Maqsood Alam and Chhatra Samagam (student wing of the ruling JD -U) state chief Ranjan Kumar.
Though the protesters owed allegiance to different student organisations, Chhatra Samagam spear headed the show. The student body chief told TOI that he would be registering a named FIR against Brajesh Rai.
When contacted, NSS coordinator Brajesh Rai said that the protesters wanted to ransack the senate meet hall and the university security guards just performed their duty in thwarting their attempt. Playing the victim, Rai said that he got one of his fingers fractured in the violence.