Authorities on Wednesday tightened security around the campus of the Visva Bharati university after a local drug addict tried to molest a 20-year-old American student visiting the facility here as part of a study tour on Tuesday.

The student from New Jersey, USA, who is part of the ten-member US Students’ delegation visiting Shantiniketan, raised an alarm after the addict, out on bail, suddenly pounced on her and began to pull her locks from behind.
Alerted by her screams, her friends and locals immediately chased the addict who was soon overpowered by a university guard and later handed over to police. Tagore’s abode of peace, already suffering from the adverse impact of the heist of Nobel memorabilia and shooting inside the girls’ hostel, has been dealt another blow following the incident.

The molestation bid which follows a series of attacks on overseas tourists in different parts of India, is the first such attack on a foreign student visiting a university campus in West Bengal.

The addict, identified as J P Mishra, had earlier stabbed a police constable and was recently released from jail on bail. He produced in the district court on Wednesday and the Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate remanded him to police custody for a week for further interrogation.