26 SMIT students suspended for rioting & Clash

GANGTOK, October 6: Classes in Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology (SMIT) at Majitar resumed from today after almost one month since a clash broke out two groups of students.

The SMIT had suspended classes on September 8 after a volley ball match issue snowballed into a major clash and full scale rioting by the students that required strong measures from the police. The authorities also ordered the suspension of the classes, prematurely, for the Puja vocations and the institute resumed classes from today on a peaceful note.

Meanwhile, 26 students have been identified by the SMIT authorities as those who instigated the clash and rioting.

Sikkim Manipal University (SMU) Vice Chancellor Brig (retd) Surjit Singh Pabla said today that 26 students of SMIT have been identified for suspension for their involvement in the incident as per the interim report of the seven member empowered committee. The committee had been constituted to probe into the SMIT students’ clash.
Out of the 26 students, suspension orders for 17 have been issued and their concerned guardians have been intimidate for the decision of the institute, said the VC. Suspension orders for the remaining students involved in the incident are under process, he said.
The suspension order ranges from two to four weeks.
Brig Pabla said that a number of other students of SMIT have still to depose themselves before the committee and final action will be taken after that. Submission of the final report by the committee is still pending and action against some more students in future cannot be ruled out, he added.
At the same time, the VC asserted that the SMU administration is very much conscious in dealing against those responsible for the September 8 incident since they are students.
Brig Pabla said that a number of steps have been taken by the SMU in consultation with the State government to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in future.
A chief security officer and a chief hostel warden for the both the campuses have been appointed. Brig (retd) SR Mazagavankar is the chief security officer for SMIT and he joined duty from the third week of September, it is informed.
Fifteen private security guards too have been deployed at the SMIT campus. The management is also keen to recruit more security personnel in future.
A special operation procedure has also been formulated by the university to prevent re-occurrence of such incidents, said the VC. He added that several teams of teachers have been constituted at SMIT to keep a watch on the activities of the students in the hostels and in the campus as well.