ICFAI students go on rampage, 33 held

Students of the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI) were arrested for damaging property worth Rs 50 lakh.

More than 30 students of the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI) were arrested on Thursday for ransacking the premises, following a decision by the University of Dehradun authorities to deny admission to students to the regular four-year B Tech course.

As anger boiled over, B Tech first and second year students resorted to violence, damaging 80 computers and 50 windowpanes, besides setting afire scores of books. As many as 33 students were arrested for damaging property worth Rs 50 lakh. A fire tender that was rushed to the spot was able to douse the blaze in the library. Those arrested were produced before a magistrate.

ICFAI has been in the eye of a storm for allegedly duping students. In the past, it has claimed to be part of ICFAI University, offering engineering courses.

No recognition

Students who enrolled for courses found out later that recognition was denied and that they would earn diploma certificates, all this after paying exorbitant fees. Repeated protests by the students went in vain.

The students were asked to approach ICFAI’s branch in Dehradun which also promised to accommodate those from Bangalore. On Thursday, the Vice-Chancellors of ICFAI University Dehradun and Hyderabad were scheduled to visit the Bangalore institute to find a solution to the problem. When they failed to turn up, a student called up the ICFAI Dehradun V-C who reportedly informed him that the students in Bangalore would not be admitted.

Based on the complaints filed by the students, criminal cases were registered against four ICFAI officials. An ICFAI Tech student said on condition of anonymity that the “the ICFAI Dehradun V-C said we would not be admitted to the regular courses and gave us an option to choose the distant learning course which would cost Rs eight lakh”. For the students, this was an unacceptable proposition as each of them had spent exorbitant amounts while paying for admission.