Panel to probe ‘use of force’ on Nepal students at Odisha varsity

The Odisha Government on Tuesday ordered a high-level fact-finding committee to probe the alleged “use of force” against Nepali students protesting the death of their colleague inside the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University campus. The move came after the incident triggered a diplomatic crisis between India and Nepal.

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Protests erupted on the KIIT campus in Bhubaneswar on Sunday night after third-year engineering student Prakristi Lamsal was found dead in her hostel room. The varsity confirmed that the student had died by suicide.

The situation escalated to the extent that Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli addressed the issue on social media, announcing that two officers from the country’s embassy in New Delhi had been dispatched to Odisha to assess the situation.

The Bhubaneswar Police on Tuesday arrested five persons, including three Directors of KIIT University, on the charges of assaulting students hailing from Nepal.

The security guards of the university — Ramakanta Nayak (45) and Jogendra Behera (25) — were arrested for assaulting the Nepali students. Besides, the cops also arrested the KIIT University’s Director General (HR) Sibananda Mishra (59), Director (Admn) Pratap Kumar Chamupaty (51) and Director of Hostels Sudhir Kumar Rath (59) in connection with the case. They were later released on bail.

“The institution has been placed under notice, and appropriate legal and administrative action shall follow based on the findings of the committee constituted by the government,” an official statement from the Odisha Government read.

After diplomatic intervention following KIIT’s controversial order directing Nepali students to vacate the campus, the university has been in damage-control mode. It has not only revoked the order, but has also repeatedly issued apologies. University officials have taken to social media to express regret, urging Nepali students to return and resume their classes, with messages such as “We love you”.

KIIT Vice-Chancellor Prof Saranjit Singh said, “We regret the way some of us behaved with the agitating students. We love our students and have never done any disservice to them.”