KIIT founder Achyuta Samanta tenders apology to Nepalese students' parents, asks pupils to return

Bhubaneswar: Days after the unnatural death of an engineering student from Nepal and subsequent attacks of students from the neighbouring country, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) founder Achyuta Samanta on Thursday tendered an apology to the parents of the Nepalese pupils and urged all those vacated the campus to come back.

The video of Samanta's first public statement on the incident was posted on KIIT's X platform, hours after he was summoned by the Odisha government's high-level committee probing the matter to appear before it on Friday.

Sitting in a gathering of students and two Nepal Embassy officials, Samanta said, "We all are very sorry and saddened over the unfortunate incident that happened on February 16 night. I am also personally feeling sad. We have taken action against some people."

"Your university is running calm and quiet and students are attending classes. We all are happy. A few students from Nepal who are in KIIT are also attending the classes. So, I humbly advise all the KIIT students from Nepal please join your own university and attend classes.

"I want to assure you there will be no harm, regarding academics, campus placement or discipline. I beg apology before the parents of Nepalese students studying at KIIT. My lovable KIITians please come back soon, we are all interested to see you," he said.

Earlier in the day, Odisha government's Higher Education Department, in a letter to Samanta, said, "You are requested to appear before the high-level committee on 21.02.2025 at 6.30 pm at State Guest House to adduce evidence with adequate documentary evidence before the committee on the term of reference as stated in the office order."

The three-member committee, headed by Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department, Satyabrata Sahu, is mandated to ascertain the circumstances leading to the suicide, alleged high-handed action by the institute authority, reasons for issuing notice to only a specific group of students and closing the institute sine die for them and other incidental matter that emerges during inquiry.

The committee, also comprising the secretaries of higher education department and Women and Child Development (WCD), had visited the KIIT campus on Wednesday and held a discussion with some of the Nepalese students who were allegedly mistreated by the staffers of the private institute for staging demonstration on the campus.

Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj said, "The high-level committee is empowered to summon anyone for the purpose of inquiry into the matter. The committee is functioning on the basis of law." "The state government has also discussed with the officials of Nepal Embassy and apprised the students about the developments," he said.

The unrest in KIIT began after the alleged suicide of 20-year-old Prakriti Lamsal, a student from Nepal, on Sunday afternoon. Other Nepalese students staged agitation and demanded justice. However, the KIIT authorities issued suspension notices to about 1,000 Nepalese students and asked them to leave the campus on Monday.

Commissioner of Police S Dev Datta Singh, meanwhile, said the police have obtained a three-day remand of a 21-year-old engineering student, who was arrested on the charge of abetting the woman's suicide. The accused was nabbed at the Biju Patnaik International Airport here while attempting to flee the city on Sunday evening, hours after the woman's death. He has been accused of blackmailing and verbally abusing her.

Following the intervention of the Centre and the state government, the KIIT authorities had tendered an apology and requested the Nepalese students to return to the campus. The state government has opened a round-the-clock help desk, to facilitate the Nepalese students' safe return.

The police, on the other hand, arrested five more staffers of KIIT on the charge of assaulting Nepalese students on Monday while they were vacating the hostel following a direction of the institute authorities.

With this, the number of people arrested in the KIIT fiasco increased to 11, including the engineering student who was booked for allegedly abetting the suicide of the Nepalese woman.

Earlier on February 18, the police had arrested five employees of KIIT, but they secured bail. The police were criticised from different quarters for the five accused getting bail.

The police have registered two cases in connection with the alleged suicide of the Nepalese student and the subsequent attacks on the youths from the neighbouring country allegedly by the staffers of KIIT.

Normalcy is slowly returning to KIIT campus and students have started attending classes even as different student organisations held demonstration outside the campus demanding action against those responsible for the death of the woman and attack on Nepalese students.