Panel to probe harassment charge levelled against professor at MNNIT-Allahabad

Prayagraj (UP): The director of the Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT) here has formed an inquiry committee to probe the charge of harassment levelled by a second-year M.Tech student against the head of the electronics and communication engineering department.

The proctor of the institute, Ramesh Pandey, told PTI that Kuldeep Srivastava, the second-year M.Tech student, has complained about harassment to the director, who has constituted an inquiry committee to investigate the matter.

Pandey said the director has sought a reply from the head of the electronics and communication engineering department in the matter.

The student has issued a statement on X, alleging that on June 24, he was called to the electronics and communication engineering department, where his bag was searched in the department head's cabin, without his consent.

"I was stripped and searched and abused on the suspicion of having a recording device. The head of the department pointed a revolver at my head and when I tried to escape, he opened fire," Srivastava has alleged.

However, other teachers -- Dharmendra Dixit and Professor Basant Kumar -- intervened and took him to Kumar's cabin, the student has said, adding, "I was taken to the institute's health centre after I became mentally disturbed and then I was admitted to a private hospital." According to Srivastava, a day before the incident, the head of the department's office had pressured him to withdraw an RTI application.