Deemed university murder: 8 students arrested

Chennai: Eight engineering students have been arrested in Chennai for the murder of a Jharkhand student. All those arrested belong to the Sathyabama Deemed University.

Police are investigating the murder of Nirbhay Singh who left his home in Jharkhand three years ago, to study engineering at the Dr MGR Deemed University outside Chennai. He was murdered on Sunday night, allegedly by other students from Jharkhand.

Nirbhay's death has laid bare a secret dimension to the 10,000 students from his state, who study at deemed or private universities in Tamil Nadu. Students act as brokers, luring new candidates from their home. Sources tell NDTV that as commission, students like Nirbhay get paid between Rs 50,000 to a lakh for each new candidate who signs up at their college.

In Nirbhay's case, one of the students he was brokering ended up going to a rival college and in the tussle over this, between two groups of students, Nirbhay was killed.

"They appoint them as sort of agents and in fact they also go to their places, and offer them five to ten percent commission if freshers refer their names," says Jayaprakash Gandhi, an education consultant.

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Tamil Nadu has more deemed universities than any other state in India. Since late last year, these colleges have been under close scrutiny after the central government recommended that they be de-recognized for inadequate infrastructure and low academic standards. A committee that studied them described them as fiefdoms run by politicians - in Tamil Nadu, it is not uncommon for politicians and their relatives to own these universities, known for their expensive fees. The Supreme Court, which is monitoring the issue, has reassured the lakhs of students enrolled at deemed colleges that no action will be taken that would leave students stranded.