Row over RD second campus: Utkal students set ambulance on fire

Bhubaneswar: Tension ran high on Utkal University campus after students resorted to vandalism and set fire to a defunct ambulance parked outside the Vice-Chancellor's office here on Friday protesting Odisha government's proposal to set up the second campus of Rama Devi (RD) Women's University on their premises.

It is for the second consecutive day that students have been staging demonstrations inside and outside the Utkal University campus protesting the decision to accommodate the second campus of RD varsity.

The State government had earlier constituted a committee under the chairmanship of the Vice-Chancellor to identify 30 acres of land in the existing campus of Utkal University for the second campus of RD Women’s University.

Several student organizations have joined the ongoing protests and are demanding immediate roll back of the decision.

Student Congress too has threatened to intensify its agitation if the decision is not withdrawn by the State government.

Utkal University authorities on the other hand informed that keeping in view the ongoing agitations adequate police force has been deployed in the campus as a precautionary measure.