COIMBATORE: Governor RN Ravi visited Periyar University in Salem on Thursday afternoon and held a meeting with vice-chancellor R Jagannathan who had been arrested by the Salem city police for allegedly starting a private firm, PUTER, in violation of the norms and was released on condition bail.
Meanwhile, the Salem police team conducted a search at the university for a second time on Thursday and quizzed department staff from 9.30 am to 3 pm in connection with the case registered against Jagannathan.
According to sources, Jagannathan and Ravi held a meeting at the VC’s chamber for 20 minutes. Ravi then met the 27 heads of the departments at the syndicate hall and interacted with them for 10 minutes. Sources said Ravi might have discussed the ongoing issues at the university.
A teaching faculty from the Periyar University Teacher Association told TNIE that when the VC is under conditional bail, the governor should not have met him at the university and it was not a good approach.
TNIE repeatedly tried to reach Jagannathan, but his mobile phone was switched off.
Meanwhile, the Salem police team headed by Salem South Assistant Commissioner K Nilavazhagan searched the office of the computer science department, internal quality assurance cell, Tamil department office, finance office, planning and development office and section of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana on the university premises in connection with the case registered against Jagannathan. Six special teams led by inspectors quizzed the department staff from 9.30 am to 3 pm.
The air was thick with tension as the search continued even as the governor held a meeting with the VC and department heads. The police department deployed over 200 personnel at the campus to prevent untoward incidents. Sources said police had already conducted searches at several places linked to the case, including the offices of the V-C, and registrar, their residences and the PUTER Foundation office on December 27. It is believed that the search was carried out a few hours before the governor’s visit on Thursday to secure documents related to the case against Jagannathan, sources added.
Meanwhile, the Federation of Students Organisation-Tamil Nadu, which comprises the students’ wing of political parties, staged a demonstration in front of the university against Ravi by showing black flags for meeting Jagannathan who is facing corruption charges. Police arrested more than 200 members of the federation and detained them at a marriage hall. Repeated attempts to reach top police officers in Salem went in vain.
When asked about the search at the university during the governor’s visit, Nilavazhagan said, “The raid is not preplanned and we are trying to secure any new documents related to the case. We did not get any documents on Thursday. However, we are investigating the case.”
