Lucknow University teachers attacked by students over PG admission

Lucknow: Over a dozen teachers at Lucknow University (LU) were injured after they were allegedly attacked by a group of former students protesting over admission to post-graduate courses, officials said. Three of them have been arrested.

Vice chancellor Surendra Pratap Singh said that he, too, was attacked but his colleagues saved him and brought him to his office.

"Those involved in the incident were not LU students. They claimed to be Samajwadi Party workers," Singh said.

The University has been closed till further notice and the counselling for the admissions was stopped, he said.

"We will file an FIR," the vice chancellor said.

Among the teachers injured are proctor Vinod Singh and chief provost Sangita Rani, university officials said. Some university guards also got hurt in the attack.

"Three persons have been arrested in this connection. We are awaiting a complaint by the university administration," Trans Gomti SP Harendra Kumar said.

At least 20 former students had been protesting on the campus since Monday, alleging that they were denied admission to postgraduate courses because they had participated in an agitation against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The students had allegedly obstructed Adityanath's convoy and waved black flags last year, opposing his visit to the campus. The police had arrested 11 students.

Most of the students who took part in the protests were members of the left-wing All India Students' Association (AISA) and the Samajwadi Party's student wing Chhatra Sabha, police said.

Two candidates, Pooja Shukla and Gaurav Tripathi, who also sat on an indefinite hunger strike demanding admission for students who took the entrance test last month, and whose results were allegedly held back for waving blacks flags at the chief minister.

Pooja Shukla was among those who had waved black flags at the CM's convoy last year.

When asked about the row over admissions, the vice chancellor said, "There is procedure for admission to the university. It cannot be given against norms."

The LU Teachers Association (LUTA) will meet tomorrow to discuss their next course of action.