BENGALURU: Hundreds of students at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) on Wednesday staged a protest on the campus demanding the suspension of the project engineer and the contractor in charge of the renovation of the gate at the entrance to the campus, following the death of a security guard, who died after the newly installed gate collapsed on him on June 30.
They alleged that the management was not taking action against the project engineer Col. Arun Sharma of the Centre for Campus Management and Development (CCMD) and the owner of the construction company, Nagaraja, who were arrested by the police for causing death due to negligence. Nagaraja was released on bail.
The protestors said both the accused were roaming freely and continue to be involved in the activities inside the campus, even though the investigation was till ongoing.
Students demanded that IISc Director Anurag Kumar suspend both Col. Sharma and contractor Nagaraja until the investigation is completed.
The students also demanded that their representatives be included in the internal investigation panel which is being formed to look into the incident. They also alleged that security guards who had witnessed the incident have been threatened with loss of their jobs if they testified.
However IISc Director has refused to accept any of their demands and, instead, called the police to disperse the agitating students. The students felt that the presence of Col. Sharma on the campus despite an ongoing investigation raises questions on integrity and fairness of the probe.
On June 30, Gowtham Biswal (29), who was guarding the new main gate on C.V. Raman Road, died after the 500-kg sliding gate collapsed on him and also injured another security guard. The gate, which has been in operation for less than a month, was approved for usage despite the fact that it lacked a stopper, the students claimed.
