SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, March 29: A fresh twist has emerged in the attack case involving a female faculty member of Sindri College, as the victim, Assistant Professor Dr. Sharmistha Acharya, has alleged in a written statement that the institution’s principal was responsible for the incident.
Dr. Acharya, who also serves as the Examination Controller of the college, claimed that she was attacked on the road due to her complaint to the university authorities regarding alleged irregularities by the principal.
She was assaulted by bike-borne miscreants on March 22 at around 5:30 PM while returning home by car after conducting an examination.
Accusations Against the Principal
Although Dr. Acharya did not mention the principal’s name in her complaint to the Sindri police, she later accused Principal Dr. K.K. Pathak and Chief Accountant Shibesh Shankar Jha of pressuring her to sign fraudulent examination bills. When she refused, she formally reported the issue to the university.
“The principal had prior knowledge of the attack on me. When a reporter inquired about the incident, he mentioned my name without being informed about it,” alleged Dr. Acharya.
She also stated that despite personally informing the principal about the attack, neither did he visit Sindri nor did he instruct any college staff to assist her. “Even after a week, the principal has not reported the incident to the Sindri police,” she added.
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Allegations of Examination Malpractices
Dr. Acharya further alleged that she and Magistrate Rampad Tudu had caught an impersonator attempting to take the Semester 5 examination fraudulently. However, instead of taking action, the principal and other college staff allowed the fake examinee to go free.
Principal Denies Allegations, Calls Them Baseless
Principal Dr. K.K. Pathak refuted all allegations, stating that he would not engage in a war of words with the professor but maintained that she was making baseless accusations to cover up her own faults.
“I have only a year left before retirement, and I have always supported her. However, for the past three years, no students have enrolled in the Bengali department, where she teaches. Given this, former Vice-Chancellor Dr. Sukhdeo Bhoi had issued a directive for her to attend classes twice a week at Chas College in Bokaro, but she has failed to comply,” he said.
Counterclaims Against Dr. Acharya
Dr. Pathak also pointed out contradictions in Dr. Acharya’s statements. “On one hand, she claims that she has been removed from her position as Examination Controller, yet today (Saturday), she signed official documents in that capacity. Since she has no students in her department, she has no substantial work at the college and is engaging in baseless blame games,” he stated.
