RAJPURA: Unverified social media claims that two women students were missing from Chitkara University’s hostel triggered a night-long protest at its Rajpura campus on Friday. The unrest escalated when some members of the crowd allegedly damaged police vehicles and university property. Police and university authorities said they had found no evidence that any student was missing or had died.
Hundreds of students gathered on the campus late Friday and demanded an explanation from the administration. Alongside the missing-students claim, messages circulating in student groups alleged that two hostellers had died by suicide. Students also sought answers about screams they said had been heard near the girls’ hostel and ambulances seen on the premises. None of those observations established that a student had died or disappeared.
Police teams from Banur, Rajpura Sadar and Rajpura City reached the campus as the demonstration grew. Some protesters allegedly smashed the windows of police vehicles and damaged campus property. Police are examining CCTV footage to establish the sequence of events and identify those responsible for the damage.
Banur Deputy Superintendent of Police Sukhdev Singh said officers had received the students’ complaint and would take any report of a missing person seriously. But the protesters could provide no name, photograph, roll number or other identifying detail for either of the two students said to be missing. Following verification, police said no student had been reported missing or harmed.
Patiala Senior Superintendent of Police Harmandeep Singh Hans also said no death or suicide involving a student had been reported by a family, the university or any student. The senior medical officer at Rajpura Civil Hospital said no post-mortem examination involving a university student had been conducted in recent days.
Chitkara University registrar Col Rakesh Sharma (retd) rejected the claims as rumours and said the administration had addressed students on Friday night. The university explained that an ambulance seen at the hostel early on September 24 had brought a student back from hospital to her room; it had not removed a body. It urged students to report specific concerns to the administration and said scheduled academic and placement activities would continue.
The authorities have brought the situation under control and deployed additional security as a precaution. Police are investigating how the rumours began as well as the damage during the protest. The incident shows how quickly an unverified claim can cause alarm on a residential campus, while the students’ demand for a prompt, clear account of events remains a matter for the university to address.