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FTII Students Release Video To Counter Director Prashant Pathrabe's Allegation Of 'Torture'

'How Is This Torture, Patharbe Sir?' FTII Students Release Video To Counter Allegation

Even as the director of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) of Pune, who was on Monday night detained inside his office by a group of agitating students for over eight hours, told reporters today that he was still in a state of mental shock, the students have released a video to counter his statement.

Prashant Pathrabe had earlier told reporters that he was "kept in illegal confinement by students for about eight to ten hours on Monday night."

However, the video posted on YouTube channel ftiistudents, paints a different picture.

In the video, one of the students says, "There's a toilet here. There's also AC. We will not threaten you. We will also call for some food. There's everything here, Sir."

Pathrabe, in turn, is seen laughing when one of the students say that he will keep him entertained by singing songs.

Earlier, ANI quoted the FTII director as saying that for the initial couple of hours he did not want to involve the police, but after 4-5 hours when the students would not give in, he called the cops.

"They formed chains to forcefully block me. I was verbally assault," he said.

He also said the students broke his office furniture in the scuffle following the arrival of police at the campus.

"I really wonder by what yardstick you can call such people 'students'. They wanted to enact a drama, it was all pre-planned to show the Director and the Institution in poor light. I had to take the unfortunate step of filing an FIR with the police as tolerating this kind of lawless behavior would have emboldened them," he said.

In another video, released by the students, a policeman is seen pushing a student while they are heard shouting slogans.

A team of officials from the Information and Broadcasting ministry will visit Pune to assess the situation at the restive campus, where students are on an indefinite strike.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has offered to provide a temporary space to the agitating students to hold their classes in the national capital, according to reports.

"Am shocked to hear whats going on at FTII. An internationally reputed institute being systematically destroyed by govt's wrong decisions. My offer to FTII students -- Del govt can provide u temp space in Del. Run ur classes here till central govt agrees If finally, central govt doesn't agree, we'll convert this place into full fledged institute n students can continue studying here only," Kejriwal said in a series of tweets.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi also tweeted in support of the FTII students. "Our students are not criminals Modiji," Gandhi said in a tweet.

Police, armed with a list of 17 people, swooped down on the campus at midnight on Tuesday and arrested five students on charges of rioting and and unlawful assembly.

The students have been released on bail now.

Of the 17 students named in the FIR, three are women who were not arrested, reported the Times of India. While there was confusion about some of the names, some students escaped arrest because they were not on campus, according to the report.

Pathrabe was prevented from leaving his office late on Monday by agitating students protesting "irrational and unjustified" assessment of incomplete diploma projects. Pathrabe had decided to go ahead with the assessment of diploma films made by students of the 2008 batch despite stiff opposition from students and faculty members, reports said.

Acting on a complaint filed by Pathrabe, police lodged an FIR against 15 students. The students have been charged under sections 147 (rioting), 143, 149 (unlawful assembly), 353 (obstructing public servant from discharging duty), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the IPC, according to TOI.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.