Karnataka Common Entrance Test centre staff intentionally made students remove janivara: Panel

Bengaluru: A committee set up to probe the case of students appearing for the Common Entrance Test (CET) having to remove their janivara (sacred thread) said it seemed the act by the college staff was intentional.The panel, constituted by Bengaluru Urban deputy commissioner Jagadeesha G, has also recommended that the college no longer be used as an exam centre."We constituted a committee headed by senior officers, and during the inquiry, prima facie it was found that the act by the college staff was intentional. The staff was given training on the dress code. KEA had also appointed a separate dress code officer. Despite that, the college staff forced the students to remove their sacred thread. There were over 700 other centres. Such an incident was not reported from anywhere else," he said Monday.It verified CCTV footage, discussed with the college principal and spoke to students, parents and examination observers, the DC said. The report has recommended that the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) not consider the college as a centre for any of the exams in future.The committee also recommended stringent action against the staff who were involved in the incident. "The college has already suspended the staff, an FIR has been filed, and a police investigation is going on. Along with that, we are recommending stringent action against staff," he added.Thursday, the first day of CET, at least three students at Krupanidhi PU College on Sarajapura Main Road, Koramangala, were allegedly stopped while frisking and asked to remove the sacred thread. The students wrote the paper after removing it.As their parents filed police complaints, three people — faculty member Sudeheer D, second division clerk A Sarita and attender Girija of Krupanidhi College — were arrested under Sections 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or beliefs) and 302 (uttering words or gestures with the deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person).The exam conducted by KEA for admission to engineering and various other professional courses was taken by 3.3 lakh students at 745 centres in the state.