Pune Beat

9 COEP students suspended for raggingNine students of the College of Engineering COEP were the first to be punished under the Maharasht...

9 COEP students suspended for ragging
Nine students of the College of Engineering COEP were the first to be punished under the Maharashtra Prohibition of Ragging Act 1999, in Pune, when they were recently suspended for ragging a fresher.

The suspended students 8211; seven from second year and two from third year 8211; of the production, civil and mechanical branches, may now be facing the prospect of expulsion, five years debarment, two years of rigorous imprisonment or a fine of Rs. 10,000.

Though Principal Dr. B.M. Domkundwar admitted to Pune Newsline that the students had been suspended for ragging, he refused to divulge details, and the COEP staff are tight-lipped about the incident, which occurred on August 3, a few days after engineering colleges in the city opened.

The suspension, a result of the stringent anti-ragging act which received the Governor8217;s assent on May 15, 1999, binds the head of the institution to conduct any inquiry into the ragging within seven days of receiving a written complaint, and empowers him to suspend the students concerned and file a police complaint. If the head fails to take any action on receiving a complaint, he is deemed to have abetted the offence and is liable for conviction and punishment.

Various student organisations in the city have welcomed such a strict measure, saying that it will encourage other victims to demand justice. A teacher, guardian or parent now has the authority to file a written complaint against ragging, which includes even teasing, abusing, threatening, playing practical jokes on or causing bodily harm, fear, shame, embarrassment or apprehension to a student.

A complaint has been filed at the Shivajinagar police station.

Three arrested for murder
The Swargate police claimed to have solved the murder of Kailash Sadhu Jangam with the arrest of three persons from Chiplum on Thursday. The three have been charged with murder and have been remanded to police custody till August 31.

Story continues below this ad

On Monday Jangam was found allegedly murdered near his residence in Janata Vasahat, Parvati, stabbed in the chest. The police had registered a case against Vijay Tukaram Polekar, who, police said, had been involved in a feud with Jangam. The police received a tip-off that Polekar along with two accomplices, Sachin Macchindra Karare and Mahadev Shriram Kadam had been sighted in Chiplun at the residence of Kadam8217;s relative. A police team was dispatched to Chiplun which arrested the three and brought them to Pune.

Website for Pawar
Nationalist Congress Party NCP chief Sharad Pawar is all set to go online.

His website 8211; Sharadpawarbaramati.com 8211; will be launched by a handicapped rural woman at a simple function in the city NCP office at Nisarg Mangal Karyalaya, Market Yard on Saturday. However Pawar, currently on a whirlwind election tour of Maharashtra, will not be present on the occasion.