Punjab: Private university's chancellor, others booked for cheating

NEW DELHI: Police Saturday booked the chancellor of a private university here on various charges, including cheating and criminal breach of trust, following a complaint by a group of nursing students, a police official said.

Deputy Superintendent of Police G S Bains said the case was registered against Zora Singh, chancellor of the Desh Bhagat University, Amloh in Fatehgarh Sahib and seven others. Several nursing students, many of them from Jammu and Kashmir, have been holding a protest against the university authorities for the past many days.

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They have alleged that the nursing college of the university had enrolled more students than the seats allotted by the Indian Nursing Council. They have expressed fear that the majority of the students would be given degrees from some other institute which may not be duly recognised or affiliated by the council.

According to the protesters, the university had enrolled around 150 students for the nursing course as against 60 seats allowed by the nursing council. The case was registered against the university authorities under relevant sections including 420 (cheating) and 406 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code, police said.

Police also assured the protesting students that a case, which was registered against many protesting students a few days back, would be withdrawn. Police had earlier booked several students following a clash between them and the university security personnel. Meanwhile, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) came out in support of the protesting students and demanded strict action against the university authorities.

SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal even spoke to one of the protesting students on a video call and said if the state police failed to take action in the matter, the SAD would assist the cause of the aggrieved students and approach the high court to secure justice for them.