Kozhikode: In a bizarre incident, NIT Calicut assistant professor Jayachandran was stabbed on campus by a man from Tamil Nadu. Though the police have taken the Salem man into custody, the motive for the attack is yet to be known.
Jayanchandran, a faculty member of the Civil Engineering department, who was admitted to a private hospital, suffered minor injuries in the attack and his condition is stable, the hospital authorities said. The Kunnamangalam police said both are from Salem in Tamil Nadu.
Vinod entered the NIT campus pretending to be a student. After reaching the civil engineering department, they had a quarrel in Jayachandran's office. Enraged, Vinod then stabbed the NIT faculty on his hands and stomach with a pen-knife lying on the table. Security personnel and his colleagues rescued Jayachandran by overpowering his attacker.
A police officer told Onmanorama that they were trying to assess the motive for the attack as Vinod had been giving contradicting statements during interrogation. “At first he told us that he was a former student of NIT. But he changed that to claim that he and Prof Jayachandran studied together in IIT Madras. He claimed he attacked the NIT professor as Jayachandran was holding back some of his medical certificates. We are yet to verify his claims,” the officer said.
As per police sources, Vinod told cops that he and Jayachandran completed the course together. However, sources said that Vinod was doing his internship while Jayachandran was doing his PhD at IIT.
Vinod got a job as an assistant professor in a private engineering college in Andhra Pradesh, while Jayachandran secured the post in NIT.
Vinod said Jayachandran helped him financially for the treatment when he recently suffered a cardiac arrest. “A few important documents, which Vinod had to submit to his institute, were with Jayachandran. When the NIT faculty declined to hand over them, an enraged Vinod stabbed Jayachandran,” said an officer.
