Guwahati, Sept 17: Around thousands of agitated students of NIT Silchar took part in a candlelight march inside the campus on Saturday, seeking justice for Koj Buker.

The students of the institute gave Shraddhanjali to the departed soul, but no one from the administration was present during the programme.

The lifeless body of third-year Electric Engineering student Koj Buker was found hanging in his hostel room on Friday.

Buker was a resident of Arunachal Pradesh, and according to his batchmates, their first semester in 2021 was conducted online.

The students alleged that Buker was not allowed to go to the classes in the fifth semester and was repeatedly insulted by the Dean of Academics, BK Roy, in front of the other students a few days ago.

“We are very good friends, and he was a very smiling face kind of guy. After his mother’s death, he got depressed, and at the same time, six backlogs were slapped on him, which has depressed him a lot. He appealed to the authorities to conduct a special examination so that he could clear the backlogs, but the administration didn’t listen to his request and tore his application,” said a third-year student in the electrical engineering department.

He said, “He played football with us. If he has mental problems, how can he then play football with us? We have heard that the administration said that he had mental problems, which is wrong. We returned from the labratory at around 4.30 pm, and after that, I took some rest. Some of the students informed me that he(Koj) had committed suicide. We ran towards his room and saw he was hanging inside his room.”

“After the incident, nobody from the administration came. His body was hanging for four hours, but nobody from the administration came to inquire about the incident. Later, two teachers and one warden came, but nobody came from the administration,” he said.

The students in their banner wrote, ‘Justice for Koj Buker is not a suicide but a murder by administration’.

Another student echoed that several incidents of violence on the NIT Silchar campus have been reported in recent times.

“We want justice for Koj Buker because he was not done with suicide. He was murdered by the administration. We want the resignation of Professor BK Roy and other teachers,” alleged the student.

He further added, “When the students staged a protest against the administration of the institute, police lathicharged us, and during the lathicharge, many students got injuries, and they rushed to Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH) for treatment. At least 40 students were injured during the lathicharge”.

After the incident, Cachar’s district commissioner, Rohan Kumar Jha, accompanied by other officials, visited NIT Silchar on Friday night.

He said that they have formed a committee to investigate the matter.

Talking to reporters, Cachar Superintendent of Police Numal Mahatta said that a large number of students gathered in front of the residence of BK Roy and vandalised his entire house.

“They attacked the police and other officials too. At one point, we had to lathicharge to control the situation, and we are now investigating the matter further,” Mahatta said.

The director of Silchar NIT, Dilip Kumar Baidya, claimed that some students fail in academics, and to avoid this, they take improper steps.

“We have sympathy for the student who died, but he had a bad academic performance. Some students fail, and they come with illegitimate demands,” he said.

Meanwhile, Gymkhana Union Body NIT Silchar submitted a memorandum to Cachar Deputy Commissioner on Saturday regarding the issue.

“We demand the immediate resignation of Prof. Binoy Krishna Roy from the post of Dean Academic at NIT Silchar, as we believe the unfortunate incident could have been avoided had the administration been cooperative with the student fraternity,” the memorandum stated.

It further added, “There must be proper compensation and all possible support for the family of the victim from the NIT Silchar Administration and Cachar Administration. Any pending such disciplinary actions taken on the students which might trigger the same incident of suicide or mental distress must be taken down at immediate effect,”.

“There should be no actions against any of our students, neither from the NIT Silchar Administration nor from the Cachar Administration, regarding the unfortunate incidents that took place yesterday. There must be an FIR filed against Prof. Binoy Krishna Roy (Dean Academic, NIT Silchar), and a proper investigation should be carried out regarding the case,” it stated.

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