Three professors held during Eflu stir

Hyderabad: Three professors and about 70 students were arrested as part of preventive measures during the ‘Occupy Vice Chancellor's Chamber’ dharna at the English and Foreign Language University on Monday. They were protesting against the rustication of three university students for breaking the library door in March.

Chaos prevailed at the Eflu campus, with constant tussles between students and the about 100 police personnel, deployed to restore normalcy. Students and professors from the Hyderabad Central University, the Osmania University and the Kakatiya University, civil society activists and political leaders took part in the protest. Professors Vishweshwar Rao, Laxminarayana and Ratnam were taken into custody but were released by evening.

“Students of the university numbering about 50, who had assembled peacefully in front of the administrative block after getting verbal permission from the police and were shouting slogans, were suddenly lathi-charged and taken away in a police truck. Among those taken into custody was one of the rusticated students, Satish Nainala, a research scholar in the university and two lady students,” said M. Shankar, a student.

Other university students were not allowed to move around the campus. The police took liberty to declare a holiday for the students when they tried to explain that it was mandatory for research scholars to sign the register every day, said another student. A senior Eflu official explained, “One of the rusticated students, Mohan Dharavath, met the VC and Professor Sunaina Singh. She has asked the three students to submit a representation and she will look into it positively as soon as possible.”