Cuttack: Students at Ravenshaw University on Monday protested outside the vice-chancellor’s office, alleging that 10 senior students were falsely implicated in a ragging case.The university had ordered the eviction of 10 third-year undergraduate students from the institute’s east hostel on Sunday for allegedly verbally harassing and abusing juniors during a late-night interaction on Saturday. As a result, they were temporarily relocated to the university’s guest house as part of disciplinary measures.But on Monday, a group of first-year students submitted a written statement to the VC, claiming they were coerced by hostel authorities into making accusations against their seniors. “We were having a normal interaction with our seniors. There was no such thing as ragging. The hostel authorities pressurised us to file a complaint against our seniors even though nothing wrong happened that night,” a first-year student preferring anonymity said.A third-year student and member of the boarder committee, who was among the 10 ‘falsely implicated’ students, demanded a fair probe on the matter. “There was no complaint from any junior. As committee members, we ensure discipline in the hostel. The action taken against us without any hearing or complaint is shocking,” the student added.In response, Sudarshan Mishra, the chief warden of the university, said the action taken against the 10 students was in line with anti-ragging regulations and based on what was found during inspection. “We have concrete evidence, including video footage and photographs, showing the misconduct,’ Mishra added.The protesting students have called for an impartial inquiry into the incident and have urged the administration to revoke the eviction order.University officials are yet to announce if the disciplinary action will be reviewed in light of the fresh claims made by the juniors. Both parties are awaiting a formal response from the VC’s office.Despite repeated attempts, VC Sanjay Nayak did not respond to calls.
