After student threatened over Facebook post, Assam University exam official sent on leave

Guwahati : After a student was threated by authorities at the Assam University in Silchar over his Facebook post, the institute's Controller of Examination (COE) Suprabir Dutta Roy was sent on leave, officials said on Saturday.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) launched a massive protest on Friday in the university campus demanding the removal of Dutta Roy from his post citing incompetency in his work to conduct examinations and issuing threat to a student to withheld the result of graduation for questioning his way of functioning.

At least 2,000 students from different colleges in the state's Barak Valley area gathered at the varsity campus during the protest. They alleged that the examination department was unable to declare results on time, marksheets were getting leaked before the declaration of result and the COE sent threat letters to college authority against an undergraduate student.

Priyanka Dutta, a student at Gurucharan College in Silchar, gave the undergraduate final examination in June this year. She appeared at the Common University Entrance Test and secured a position to study a Masters course at Cotton University in Guwahati. However, her parent institution, Assam University, failed to declare the results until today.

This has caused Dutta to lose her admission to Cotton University. Depressed by the event, the student took to Facebook and wrote a long post on August 9 criticising the varsity for not being able to declare the result on the scheduled time.

In response, Dutta Roy sent two letters to the Gurucharan College authority asking to take action against Dutta. Mentioning the examination roll number of the student, Dutta Roy said in the letter that if the college authority does not take any action against the student, her undergraduate examination results will be withheld.

The Vice Chancellor of Assam University, Rajive Mohan Pant met the agitating students and tried to pacify them. “An inquiry in the matter is underway and if anybody found guilty, the concerned person will be punished as per the law.”

However, when the students alleged that Dutta Roy may try to influence the probe, the Vice Chancellor said that the Controller of Examination was sent for a one-week leave and the varsity authority is hopeful that the inquiry committee report will arrive in the meantime.