KOCHI: The former principal of Cusat’s School of Engineering (SoE) on Thursday informed the Kerala High Court that since the musical programme was arranged in the open-air auditorium, which is outside the premises of the SoE, and was open to the public, he had requested the registrar to arrange security for the event.
According to Dipak Kumar Sahoo, he sent a letter electronically by FFMS as well as in physical form on November 24, seeking adequate security and police cover for the programme. “As a measure of abundant precaution, I also reminded the registrar of my request, by phone call, at about 3 pm on November 25. This was because the programme was to be held outside the School of Engineering premises, wherein, the registrar is the exclusive custodian to arrange police security,” said Sahoo.
The counter affidavit was filed in response to a petition filed by Aloshious Xavier, president of Kerala Students Union (KSU), seeking an impartial inquiry by a judicial commission into the stampede that claimed the lives of four persons, including three Cusat students.
“There was no inaction on my part while I held the position of the principal and as I had made all the necessary arrangements for the programme,” Sahoo said. As per the university’s letter, no DJ was arranged that evening. “I abided by the two notes mentioned in the approval letter for the musical night. I had assigned duties to the heads of departments and faculty members, for the on-campus and off-campus activities outside the School of Engineering, including the musical night,” he said.
“The petitioner’s allegation that there had been lack of proper monitoring by authorities was false. Most of the students of SoE, about 500 in number with Dhishna t-shirts, had already been inside the auditorium before the stampede. This was monitored by staff advisors on duty, including the faculty coordinator Dr Gireesh Kumaran Thampi, who was present inside the auditorium before the incident. However, crowd control is a skilled job which can only be done properly by security officers and police, as the faculty members are not in a position to manage large crowds,” said the former SoE principal.