JNU teachers’ body seeks removal of security agency after theft at professor’s house

Last year, the JNUTA had alleged that there had been 11 burglaries in teachers’ homes since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The JNUTA expresses its shock and dismay at the massive theft in a faculty colleague’s house in 1443, New Poorvanchal, one of many of its kind in the past two years. The colleague in question was out of station for around a week and had dutifully informed the security services of the university (Cyclops Security and Allied Services Pvt Ltd) about his absence before he left,” they said.

They added: “He returned on 24th March, 2022, to find his house entirely ransacked, and everything of value stolen. He and his family are understandably under great trauma. The JNUTA condemns the utter incompetence of the Cyclops staff, who have at best been indifferent when the colleague reported the matter to them.”

While the JNUTA did not name the professor, sources said the theft took place at the home of Former Chief Proctor Dhananjay Singh. In January last year, there was a burglary attempt at the house of Former Dean of Students Umesh Kadam. He, too, had informed the security that he would be out of town.

“We are yet again confronted with the unpalatable reality of the extreme vulnerability in which the colleagues living on the campus find themselves in. Not so long ago, this campus constituted a space that symbolized comfort, safety and security to all its residents…We hold the Cyclops Security and Allied Services Pvt Ltd and the JNU administration that recruited its services from 2019 onwards squarely responsible for the steadily deteriorating security condition of the campus and the financial losses, psychological trauma and mental harassment faced by colleagues as a result of the series of thefts,” the association said.

It added: “It is relevant to point out that the expenditure on JNU security has nearly doubled in the last 4 years for which the annual accounts are available, from 8.3 crores in 2015-16 to more than 15 crores in 2019-20. We are given to understand that the university is struggling with a huge financial deficit in the current financial year. We question the rationale of the huge increases in the security expenses in this backdrop, which has ironically added to the insecurity of the campus.”

The JNUTA also “urged” the administration to “assume responsibility to ensure security on campus” and has “demanded” the “removal of the Cyclops Security and Allied Services Pvt Ltd with immediate effect”.