Valuables, including IT devices, vandalised at Ballygunge's B.Ed Univ

Kolkata: An act of burglary, ransacking and theft of valuable items including IT devices was reported from the premises of West Bengal University of Teachers' Training, Education Planning & Administration (WBUTTEP&A) popularly known as B.Ed University in Ballygunge on Saturday morning.

The university has lodged an FIR with Ballygunge police station furnishing the details of the articles that have suffered damages due to the ransacking.

"Prima facie, it appears that the act perpetrated by outsiders/miscreants in an articulated manner has been engineered and executed with the motive of dislodging the total communication system, which is the backbone of the online system. The incident may be construed as an attempt to dislodge the proposed examination commencing from October 1," said a senior university official.

University officials believe that the barbaric act was aimed at maligning the education system and the online examination being proposed by the state government in the interest of the students amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Vice-Chancellor Soma Bandyopadhyay received a phone call regarding an attack in the university campus at around 10.30 am and informed senior officials of the varsity who rushed to the spot and did an inspection. "All connecting cables were torn apart to prevent the functioning of CCTV so no footage could be captured," added the official.