The Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) has suspended five students for “indiscipline and indulging in vandalism”.
SRFTI Registrar B D M Ambedkar told The Indian Express that the decision was taken following recommendations by the dean’s council.
“The matter was placed before the dean’s council and based on its recommendations, the authority has suspended the five students from the institute until further order and has asked them to vacate their hostel rooms by noon on Friday,” Ambedkar told the newspaper. A police complaint was lodged against the students following an incident at the campus on August 11, he added.
An order issued by the institute on August 16 read, “On August 11 evening, a group of students had in a terrible, shocking and unpardonable display of indiscipline, indulged in an unprecedented vandalism within the campus during which they had mercilessly with ulterior motive, destroyed the security system/CCTV cameras installed at the main gate and grossly misbehaved with the security personnel on duty, physically ransacked the security office, snatching the hard disk and taken it away to destroy evidence.”
The SRFTI registrar also said that the authorities have convened a meeting on August 22 and a decision on whether to sustain the order or revoke it would be taken. “If they apologise for their misconduct, then we will take a decision accordingly. But we wanted to take action because what they have done is a cognisable offence. We want to set an example for other students,” Ambedkar added.
