Prayagraj: An Allahabad University (AU) faculty member, on Saturday, lodged an FIR against four senior professors – including the varsity’s former proctor Ram Sevak Dubey – for allegedly abusing him and manhandling him during a meeting on campus.
The complainant, D.C. Lal, is a faculty member of the physical education department.
The four professors named in the FIR are Ram Sevak Dubey, Harsh Kumar, Pankaj Kumar and Rajesh Singh.
The FIR was lodged at Colonelganj police station under Section 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (punishment for intentional insults) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
In his complaint, Lal alleged that the incident occurred during a meeting of AU Teachers’ Association (AUTA), convened at the medieval and modern history department on Friday.
“When I raised the issue of conducting elections for the teachers’ union and the returning officer for the said polls, the four faculty members started abusing me. They made remarks against me and also manhandled me. They then pushed me out of the room by pulling at my collar,” Lal told the police in his complaint.
Of the four accused professors, Harsh Kumar is the former dean of students welfare; Pankaj Kumar is a former member of the UP Public Service Commission. Rajesh Singh is presently the superintendent of Tara Chand Hostel.
Inspector Colonelganj police station, Arun Kumar Tyagi, said, “Lal has registered a complaint and on the basis of the same we have registered an FIR. We are probing the case.”
The inspector confirmed that the four faculty members have been named in the FIR.
Meanwhile, one of the faculty members accused in the FIR, Harsh Kumar said, “The AUTA meeting had begun with opening comments from Dubey. After him, Deepshikha Sonkar stood up to speak, but Lal interrupted her and raised the issue of conducting elections for AUTA members. Pankaj Kumar had then alleged that Lal had been posting objectionable comments on a WhatsApp group of AU teachers. A number of teachers present at the meeting also objected to the posts.”
Officials said that in the WhatsApp group, Lal had alleged that teachers were being appointed in AU on the basis of commission.
Lal left the meeting and lodged an FIR on Saturday. He also alleged that the accused used ‘casteist’ remarks against him.
