Bangalore, December 17: Thirty men led by Sri Rama Sene chief Pramod Mutalik assaulted the director of correspondence courses and distance education, Bangalore University, in Central College campus after barging into his office on Friday.
They were protesting against director Prof BR Niranjan's decision not to hold undergraduate exams in centres that lacked CCTVs and had a history of malpractice.
Why it happened
The directorate had conducted BA/BCom/- BBM exams at 31 centres across the state in August. Results were nullified after reports of mass copying at several centres.
The re-exam was scheduled for December 14 on the condition that the centres installed CCTVs and recruited four observers. However , four centres refused to comply with the instructions, citing that it would cost them money. The varsity, however, refused to give permission to these centres to conduct the exams on Wednesday.
Mutalik and his men marched into the director's office at 1.30pm when Niranjan was in a discussion with a student. The Sene leader plonked himself on a seat in front of the director. They demanded that the exam be held on December 26.
When the director informed them that decision has to be taken by higher authorities , Mutalik said he wanted to speak to the VC and the registrar. The director immediately called the VC, who was on leave, and the registrar, by phone and allowed Mutalik to talk to them.
After the telephonic conversations, arguments resumed and one of the intruders slapped Niranjan on his face. The director lost balance and fell down. Mutalik and his men warned Niranjan that if the exam was not conducted by December 26, they would set the university on fire.
The enraged group went on a rampage and damaged the furniture before leaving the place. The police arrived later and took Niranjan to Victoria Hospital.
VC shocked
N Prabhu Dev, vice-chancellor , said: "I am shocked. The university is virtually under siege. When I told yesterday (Thursday) that things have reached a stage where reaching campus without police protection has become tough, nobody took me seriously . This is only an extension of what has been happening. The damage done is not to the university property, but to the moral grounds on which the varsity stood."
"We have been working on exam reforms for three years now, struggling to put in place a transparent process. We have clearly instructed the exam centres to have CCTVs to avoid malpractices. Who's Mutalik to come and tell us? He has given us a deadline to conduct the exams (December 26). We cannot yield to such elements. In that case, why are we even bothered to conduct tests? I will meet the governor, the chief minister and the education minister," the VC added.
'System has collapsed'
Niranjan , who has assumed office only five months ago, is under medication. "Doctors are worried about my left ear. They have asked me to get back to them in case of nausea or giddiness," he said. "The system has collapsed. It's all going into the hands of rowdies," he added. In his complaint, Niranjan said a student of Diksuchi Study Centre, Davanagere, slapped him.
'I saw teacher being slapped'
A visibly shaken Lakshmi (name changed), a research student, who was witness to the incident, said: "I saw my teacher being slapped. How can I take it? They initially started talking to the director, which later turned into a heated argument and finally ended up in assault. After creating a ruckus, they walked out as there was nobody to intervene. The police reached the spot only 30 minutes later."
Mutalik sent to jail
Pramod Mutalik and four of his associates have been arrested and sent to judicial custody till December 30 for the alleged attack on Bangalore University's Prof BR Niranjan. They have been booked for attempt to murder, unlawful assembly and threatening with dire consequences, among other charges.
He has been accused of encouraging his supporters to assault Niranjan and ransacking his office. Niranjan was allegedly slapped on his right cheek and attempted to hit him on head with a chair.
Mutalik and his associates have been booked under six sections of the IPC.
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