NIT Mizoram students call off stir after police starts probe

AIZAWL: The agitating students of the National Institute of Technology, Mizoram, called off their indefinite stir against poor quality of hostel food which they alleged had caused the death of a student, police said today.

The students, who launched agitation on April 2, called off their stir yesterday after the police started enquiry into the death of the student, they said.

A first year student Sevsharan Kumar, hailing from Bihar, was taken ill in the NIT hostel at Tanhril near Aizawl on March 26 and died in a Guwahati hospital on March 31, they said.

The NIT students alleged that Kumar died after consuming rotten food served in hostel mess.

The police took up the case and launched investigation into the cause of the death of Kumar and also whether the hostel warden provided poor quality food to the boarders, they said.

Earlier yesterday, at the instructions of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the Principal Secretary (Home) Amir Subhani had called up the Home Department of Mizoram, about the stir by students of NIT Mizoram.

The Mizoram government officials had assured Subhani that the government of the north-eastern state was "committed to security and welfare of all students of NIT, Mizoram", an official release said in Patna.

Subhani had also called up the Union HRD Ministry and learnt that the department had sent a senior official to the north-eastern state for resolving the issue, the release said adding "the Home department of Bihar is keeping a constant watch on the situation".