Jadavpur University gets officiating vice-chancellor amid row over student's death

KOLKATA: West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose appointed Buddhadeb Sau as the officiating vice-chancellor of Jadavpur University on Saturday night, officials said.

Sau is a professor in the university's Department of Mathematics, they said. Bose, also the chancellor of the university, issued orders authorising Sau to exercise the powers and perform the duties of the vice-chancellor with immediate effect, they added.

The university, which is without a full-time vice-chancellor since June, is at the eye of a storm over the death of a student at its hostel allegedly due to ragging. The first-year undergraduate student died after falling from the second-floor balcony of the university's main hostel on August 9. His family alleged he was a victim of ragging.

The tenure of the university's last full-time vice-chancellor Suranjan Das, who served for nine years, ended on May 31. Following that, Bose appointed Amitabha Datta, the pro-VC of the university, as the officiating vice-chancellor but he resigned on August 4. Datta had resigned after being asked by the governor.