Prof accuses TMC leader of assault

“He walked into the staff room and started rebuking us in filthy language. When we protested,he hit me with a jug and hurt my chin,” professor Debjani Dey said.

She also alleged that Islam and some other Trinamool workers were making the college unfit as an educational institution.

Islam refuted the allegations. “I got a written complaint from the students’ union that teachers and non-teaching staff members were very irregular. Often they sign the register for the days they were absent,” he said.

He said that he went to the college to look into the matter. He met the principal and later talked to the teachers. “One of the teachers was shouting at the top of her voice and I just told her not to point her finger and to speak softly. As teachers,they should set a good example. There was no fighting and no hitting from my end,” he added.

He added that as the president of the governing body of the college,he had the right to probe complaints.

Head clerk Md Quddus Ali,who claims to have witnessed the incident,had a different story. “At 11.45 am,Islam walked into the campus. He spoke to the principal and then went to the teachers’ room and spoke to them. A heated altercation followed and Islam banged the jug on the table. Some water spilled and professor Dey,who tried to stop it from falling on her,got hurt with her own bangle,” he said.

“Most of the times the teachers are not present in the college and it is true that they sign the register for the days they are absent. They take undue advantage of a register that is maintained manually. I had tried to complain about this but no one paid any heed,” he said.

Ashish Das,OC,Bhangar police station,said,“There has been no formal,informal or phone communication about the incident.”

Clerk Ali said there were 14 full-time and 25 part-time teachers,14 full-time non-teaching staff and eight casual staff in the college. The student strength was about 4,000.