Inmate next to your hostel room could be a criminal

LUCKNOW: Worried that their children could be staying next to criminals in Lucknow University hostels, many parents have asked their children to leave the hostels in the next academic session.
The parents are concerned about safety of their wards after an illegal occupant with a non-bailable warrant against him was caught in the university’s Mahmudabad hostel during a surprise inspection by LU officials on Monday.




During the surprise inspection, four illegal occupants, including Shailendra Singh ‘Shailu’, against whom an NBW had been issued, were found. Three of them were caught and handed over to Hasanganj police while one managed to flee.

Speaking to TOI on Thursday, LU hostellers shared that the after the incident their parents have asked them to start looking for other accommodation near the university so that they don’t have to continue in the hostel in the next academic session. Talking to TOI over the phone, mother of hosteller Laxmi Singh from Mau said, “I have asked my son to leave the Mahmudabad hostel and stay in the local guardian’s house in Indiranagar. I cannot let him stay with a criminal in the hostel.”

She added: “I had preferred university hostel over private accommodation thinking that it would be safer but this incident has left me in shock.” Another parent, Brijraj Kumar from Gonda, said, “Now I realise that LU hostels pose a double risk. First, your ward is unsafe, and second, he can be caught and sent to jail for sharing room with a criminal.” Kumar said he was ready to pay extra money for his son’s stay in a private accommodation than LU hostel from next year. “It’s difficult to figure out whether someone sharing my son’s room is a genuine student or not as LU fails to keep a check on outsiders and rowdy elements,” he added.

“Point six in Lucknow University’s hostel rule book states that a guardian can stay in a hostel with the ward for a day with permission of the provost. But I was denied this facility while the rowdy elements easily stay there,” said Puneet Verma, a parent from Deoria. He said such unsafe hostels are not meant for studious students and added that he will take out his son from the hostel next year. Meanwhile, Mahmudabad hostellers alleged that the provost rarely visits the hostel. “His official accommodation is just half-a-kilometre away from the hostel but he is never available to listen to our complaints,” said hosteller Harsh Kumar. While the provost was unavailable for comment, Lucknow University vice-chancellor SP Singh said, “It’s not mandatory for provost to visit hostel daily. Instead his duty is to look into students’ grievances.”

LU officials have lodged an FIR against unidentified persons under Section 394 for voluntary causing hurt in committing loot in the Birbal Sahni hostel incident.