After a mild baton charge by the police, some of the protesting students were taken into custody and released later, police said.
AMBALA – Violence broke out after a second year civil engineering student of SRM Global Engineering College at Bhurewal village near Naraingarh committed suicide by hanging from a ceiling fan in his hostel room on Tuesday morning. Later, as news of the death spread, students of the college shouted slogans against the institute, damaged cars alleging mismanagement and blocked the Naraingarh-Chandigarh road.
After a mild baton charge by the police, some of the protesting students were taken into custody and released later, police said. Sahbul Ansari (20), a brilliant student according to his batch mates, was from Mahatori district in Nepal. No suicide note was recovered.
According to Ansari’s roommate Yogeshwar, both were awake in the room till 2 am after which he (Yogeshwar) went to sleep and went out for classes in the morning while Ansari slept. Later, at about 9 am, some students in a building adjoining the hostel spotted Ansari’s body through his room’s window and reported the matter to the college management, which contacted the police.
Sahbul Ansari, a student from Nepal, who committed suicide in the wee hours of Tuesday.
The body has been taken to the Naraingarh Civil Hospital for a post mortem examination. Ansari is survived by two brothers who live in Dubai.
The protesting students, meanwhile, alleged that though the college charged a hefty fee from them the hostel had no warden or watchman. Facilities were inadequate, the academic atmosphere was ‘poor’. Some students were also stressed because of fines imposed on them by the college, they alleged.
Expressing grief over the incident, college chairman Roshan Lal Jindal said that the institute had lost a brilliant student. Reasons why Ansari took the step were not known, Jindal said. Allegations of lack of facilities at the institute were baseless, he added. The protesters broke windows of several vehicles, including college buses, after a mild baton charge was ordered to control them.
Police said that the situation was brought under control after two hours and several rampaging students were taken into custody and later let off.
DSP Rajbir Singh said that Ansari’s relatives had been informed and after the visit of forensics experts and further action would be taken when the relatives reached Naraingarh. The hostel room has been sealed.
