Student’s death triggers protest at AU; varsity property vandalised
On getting information of the road blockade and violence by students, cops from Colonelganj police station reached the spot and pacified the crowd. They also convinced the students to lift the road blockade.
PRAYAGRAJ Upset over the death of a BVoc student, Ashutosh Kumar Dubey, a section of Allahabad University students protested on the road near the KPUC Hostel and disrupted the flow of traffic on Wednesday.
The students also vandalised university property in Hindi, Sanskrit and Education departments of the university while some women teachers were manhandled by the protesting mob. On getting information of the road blockade and violence by students, cops from Colonelganj police station reached the spot and pacified the crowd. They also convinced the students to lift the road blockade.
The students alleged that the university administration did not provide an ambulance in time due to which there was a delay in taking Ashutosh to the hospital and he could not be saved. He breathed his last on Tuesday.
“This is a case of grave negligence on part of the university officials as they did not make available the ambulance in time despite requests. We want an FIR to be registered against the people responsible for the negligence. Action should be taken against those responsible and compensation must be provided to the parents of the student,” said Ajay Yadav ‘Samrat’, the student leader leading the protest.
He added that the protest on the university gate continued along with the dead student’s father for hours but no official of the university came forward to talk to the protesting students. However, AU PRO Professor Jaya Kapoor denied these allegations and maintained that there has been no negligence in this matter at the university level.
“The death of the student is extremely sad and painful but the university had nothing to do with it. It was a tragic incident that happened on the campus. The ambulance was immediately dispatched as soon as the information was received about the student being unwell and the university administration did everything quickly,” she said.
Prof Kapoor said that those protesting were mostly outsiders led by Ajay Yadav ‘Samrat’. They damaged university properties in various departments -- including Hindi, Sanskrit and Physical Education -- and the proctor’s office too. Notice boards have been damaged and they also tore registers and official documents. They also misbehaved with women teachers present on the campus. Vandalism and misbehaviour with women on the campus in the name of the tragic incident is condemnable, she added.
Prof Kapoor said that certain elements were using this tragic incident to indulge in anti-social behaviour and gain cheap publicity. “The university teachers are greatly upset over the incident and the police should take strict steps against elements who indulged in these acts as without it, it would become difficult for teachers to indulge in academic activities on the varsity campus, she added.
ACP Chirag Jain said that after much efforts students were convinced to call off their protest. Further action would be taken after going through the complaints received in regard to the incident, he added.
As per students, 22-year-old Ashutosh was a BVoc final year student at Centre of Media Studies of AU and was presently staying with a relative in Allahpur locality. On Monday, he had come to the varsity campus. While he was at the water cooler near the AU Union Hall to drink water, he suddenly collapsed.
After some alleged delay, he was rushed to a nearby private hospital and was referred to SRN Hospital where he died shortly after. He was te only son of Ganesh Shankar Dubey, a farmer of Arakhurd village under Uttaraon police station of Prayagraj and the only brother to his two sisters.
The postmortem of the body was conducted at the morgue located at SRN Hospital campus late on Monday evening. Officials said that it was a case of suspected poisoning and the viscera has been preserved to determine the exact cause of death.