New Delhi Aug 19 : Kedarnath Awati, the president of the FTII Teachers Association, has accused the FTII Director Prashant Pathrabe of leaking false information that led to a crackdown on the institute and to the arrest of five students.
In a letter forwarded to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, Awati said FTII faculty were present till the last moment in the meeting between the students and Pathrabe, and that there was no incident of violence.
Awati further stated that senior faculty members were not consulted by Pathrabe before he called in the police to arrest the students.
The letter written to Ministry stated, “The teachers of FTII condemn the manner in which students were picked up by the police in the dead of night in the absence of senior members of the administration. They also believe that if matters would have been handled little differently than things would have not come to such a pass in the first place,”
The letter also specified, “We have been informed that the central team has been deputed to visit the institution on 21st August. In this connection the faculty members would like to request this team to come after 25th August since the faculty members will be busy with the entrance examination procedure till then,”
Pune police had arrested five students of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) from the campus for rioting, damaging properties and other charges at midnight.
The accused students have been charged under various sections of IPC including 143, 147, 149, 323, 353, 506 etc. dealing with offences some of them non-bail able related to unlawful assembly, criminal intimidation and rioting. They have since got bail. (ANI)