The founder of the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), a deemed university in Odisha, which is currently in the line of fire in the wake of alleged suicide of B Tech student from Nepal and coercive action against the Nepali students by the varsity authorities, deposed before a high-level committee constituted by the State Government.

In a related development, state’s Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj, taking part in a debate in the Assembly, described the treatment meted out to Nepalese students as “barbaric”.

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Assuring the House of stringent action against those responsible for both the suicide of the girl and the harassment of Nepalese students, he claimed that Nepalese authorities, including their Foreign Affairs Minister, had appreciated Odisha’s steps.

As directed by the government, Achyuta Samanta (founder of KIIT) appeared before the committee with the panel members quizzing him on the alleged cover-up the suicide case and forced eviction besides manhandling of Nepali students by the varsity staffs.

The committee will look into the unfortunate turn of events at the private varsity from all angles, including the alleged ploy to suppress the harassment of the deceased, racial discrimination, and the merciless beating and forced eviction of students from the Himalayan nation.

Meanwhile, the unsavory KIIT episode again echoed in the state assembly with the Opposition BJD and Congress staging a walkout demanding judicial inquiry into it.

Cutting across party lines, the incident drew condemnation from both the treasury and Opposition benches members who were of the view that the incident has shamed both the country and the state in the international platform.

Around 2000 foreign students from 65 countries are enrolled with KIIT, widely regarded as one of the premiere private universities in the country. A sizable bulk of the foreign students are from the Himalayan nation. The varsity has an overall roll strength of 40,000 students including from foreign countries. Allegations of grabbing of 12 acre-patch government land were earlier leveled by the private university founded by Samanta.