A student leader's threat to a junior college principal demanding a Transfer Certificate (TC) for a student led to an accidental fire in Hyderabad on Friday, August 19. The student leader, principal, and another college employee were injured in the incident at Narayana College at Amberpet near Ramanthapur, Hyderabad, around 12.30 pm on Friday. East Zone Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police P Srinivas Reddy told the media that the student union leader, Sandeep, had gone to the college to talk to the principal Sudhakar Reddy on behalf of a student named Sai Narayana, who had applied for a TC. As the principal refused to issue the TC till the student cleared his fee dues, in the midst of an argument, Sandeep made a threat by pouring petrol on himself and also on the principal, the police officer said.
Incidentally, there happened to be a lamp on the table in the principal’s office, which caught fire due to the petrol. This resulted in burn injuries to Sandeep, the principal Sudhakar and Administrative Officer Ashok Reddy. “They have been shifted to Gandhi Hospital for treatment. They are all stable and did not suffer serious injuries,” the Addl DCP said. The student, Sai Narayana, had reportedly completed his intermediate in MPC (Maths, Physics, Chemistry) in June this year.
Sai Narayana's family members alleged that the college management was harassing him by not issuing the TC. The student owed Rs 16,000 to the college towards fee arrears and the principal was insisting that he first clear the dues. Sai Narayana had recently passed the intermediate second year and had applied for TC. He had gone to the college with several others on Friday to demand his TC, police said. Sandeep, who was part of this group, had carried a bottle of petrol in his pocket to make the demand, the Addl DCP added.
An eyewitness, who was among several other parents who had also gone to the college to speak with the principal about pending fee payments, told the media that there were around 20 people present in the room at the time of the incident. An air conditioner and other items in the principal's room were damaged in the fire, according to IANS. The injured were rushed to the government-run Gandhi Hospital. Police said their condition was stable.
In an official statement, the Narayana Group, which runs a chain of schools and junior colleges, said that it was considering filing criminal charges against those responsible for the incident. The statement said: "An unfortunate incident of arson has occurred at the Narayana College Campus in Ramanthapur. Our principal and another staff member have suffered multiple burn injuries as a consequence. We take the safety of our students and staff very seriously. We have a zero-tolerance policy against such dangerous behaviour on our campuses. We are consulting with our legal team and are preparing to file criminal charges against those responsible for this heinous incident."
With IANS inputs