Sex scandal: Police search Madurai Kamaraj University vice chancellor's office
Madurai/Coimbatore: CB-CID officials conducted searches in the offices of top officials of Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) in connection with the sex scam erupted in assistant professor Nirmala Devi's phone call to four women students allegedly luring them to 'adjust' with university officials in return for marks and money.
Police searches were conducted Friday in the offices of MKU Vice-Chancellor P P Chellathurai and Registrar V Chinnaiah. The two officials were not present. The police action came a day after the two officials were questioned by them. The searches were aimed at gathering details regarding the work given to Nirmala Devi working at private college in Aruppukkottai in Virudhunagar district affiliated to the MKU, they said.
Devi is being questioned by the police after securing five-day custody of her from a judicial magistrate court in Sattur. The alleged conversation between Devi and her students took place a month ago. She was suspended pending an inquiry and was arrested only on April 16, a day after her audio clip leaked on social media. As the issue snowballed into a major controversy, Governor Banwarilal Purohit, who is the MKU Chancellor, has ordered a probe by retired IAS officer R. Santhanam with a request he should submit his report by the end of this month.
Santhanam told reporters he has completed the first phase of his probe and the second phase would start on Wednesday. He wants to question Nirmala Devi and said he saw no hitch in getting her from the CB-CID for the purpose, through a court directive if needed.
In a related development, state higher education secretary Sunil Paliwal said a committee had been set up to prevent recurrence of such exploitation of students and assured all those involved in the scandal would be punished.
Paliwal said the high-level committee, comprising the Vice-Chancellors of Madras University and Tamil Nadu Open University, was expected to submit its report by April 23. "The guidelines would be formed in such a way to ensure that the relationship between the professors and students would be not misused and the relationship between the students and guides should only be related to academics and research," he told reporters in Coimbatore.
The Secretary said his department came to know about the Devi scam on April 15 and immediately asked the college management to lodge a police complaint. All those involved in the matter would be punished, Paliwal added. (With agencies).
