Palakkad/ Kottayam: Students unions kept up pressure on self-financing engineering colleges in the state on Wednesday protesting the suicide of engineering student Jishnu Pranoy.
A group of Kerala Students Union activists vandalised the direct admission office of the Nehru group of institutions in Palakkad on Wednesday. The protestors marched to the office at Mangalam Tower at 1.45 pm and smashed glass panes and furniture after breaking into the closed office. The Palakkad South police later arrested three KSU activists in connection with incident. “Nine of the attackers have been identified. Six are yet to be arrested,” said Sujith Kumar, station house officer. Hundreds of activists of Students Federation of India (SFI) blocked the Palakkad-Shornur state highway at Ottappalam in the evening, protesting the eviction of students from the hostels of Jawaharlal College of Engineering, Lakkidi and Nehru College in Pampady. The college authorities had evicted around 60 students including girls from hostels of both colleges a day before their fifth semester examination. The protesters dispersed after the college officials agreed to allow the students to enter the hostels in a meeting convened by Ottappalam C.I. Abdul Jaleel.
Meanwhile, hundreds of SFI activists marched to Toms College of Engineering for Startups at Mattakara in Kottayam alleging that college management was harassing the students by imposing unnecessary restrictions.
The march, which was inaugurated by SFI state president Jaik C. Thomas, turned violent with the protestors throwing stones at the college building. SFI district president Rijesh K. Babu said the authorities have not appointed a warden at the girls’ hostel.
