
Himachal engineering college principal suspended over sexual harassment charges, ET Education
Join the community of thousands of industry professionals Subscribe to our newsletter to get latest insights & analysis.
Get updates on your preferred social platform Follow us for the latest news, insider access to events and more.
Shimla (HP), The director-cum-principal of Bandla Hydro Engineering College in Himachal Pradesh's Bilapsur district who was arrested on charges of sexual harassment has been placed under suspension, Technical Education Minister Rajesh Dharmani said Tuesday. Himanshu Monga (51) is accused of causing physical and mental abuse to female students and sending inappropriate calls and messages.The principal was suspended after a committee constituted by the technical education department to probe allegations against him submitted its report, Dharmani said.The minister said such incidents should not happen and the government will take strict action in such cases.Several students have accused Monga of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour and also produced messages sent by him to the three-member committee investigating the allegations.The panel began the probe on April 21 after a former student of Sundernagar Engineering College lodged a complaint against Monga on the Samagra e-Samadhaan portal on April 8.The complainant alleged that when she was a student in Sundernagar Engineering College, Monga, who was then a senior faculty member at the college, had behaved inappropriately with the students.The issue escalated further on May 22 the students held a protest demanding his immediate arrest after a video surfaced online that purportedly showed him trying to inappropriately touch a hospitalised female student under the blanket. The alleged incident took place in March 2024, police said.Monga was then arrested and booked under Section 354 A (sexual harassment) of IPC. The accused principal is currently on bail.Following Monga's arrest, several students have come forward against him. They said that if they did not respond to the principal's calls, he would threaten them with slashing their marks. He would also ask them to meet him in his office, and when they would turn up, behave inappropriately.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


New Indian Express
12 hours ago
- New Indian Express
Former ED officer in Bengaluru gets three-year jail for Rs 5 lakh bribe
BENGALURU: The Special Court for CBI Cases has sentenced a former Enforcement Officer of the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Lalit Bazad, to three years of simple imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh. Bazad was found guilty of extorting a bribe of Rs 5 lakh in exchange for defreezing the bank account of a finance firm under ED investigation for links to Chinese loan apps. 'While awarding the sentence, this court should bear in mind the expectations of society to prevent corruption in public office by providing prompt conviction and stern sentence,' observed Judge Manjunath Sangreshi, Principal Special Judge for CBI Cases. At the time of sentencing, Bazad was serving as an inspector in GST and Central Excise, Chennai Zone. The CBI had filed a charge sheet against him under Section 384 of the IPC and Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. According to the CBI, on January 20 and 28, 2021, Mikhil Innani, Managing Director and CEO of M/s Apollo Finvest India Ltd., along with Diksha and Harish Innani, visited the ED office in Bengaluru. During this time, Bazad allegedly demanded Rs 50 lakh from Mikhil to close the case against Apollo Finvest. He also threatened to drag the case for at least 10 years and ruin the company's name and business if the amount was not paid. Eventually, Bazad managed to extort Rs 5 lakh, which was delivered by Manavendra Bhati on the night of February 9, 2021, at a pub in J.P. Nagar. The transaction was captured on CCTV.


New Indian Express
13 hours ago
- New Indian Express
Man in Chennai gets 20 years in jail for raping 7-year-old
CHENNAI: A special court for Pocso cases in Chengalpattu on Friday sentenced a 53-year-old man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping a seven-year-old girl. The convict was identified as M Balaji, a resident of Vijayanagaram in Pallikaranai. The court found Balaji guilty on three charges and sentenced him to 20 years and imposed a fine of Rs 3,000. Additionally, a compensation of Rs 4 lakh was awarded to the victim. The crime took place on December 14, 2022, when the victim's mother was not at home. Balaji was booked under the Pocso Act and IPC for aggravated penetrative assault based on a complaint filed by the victim's mother. The Selaiyur All Women Police station investigated the case and arrested the accused.


Hindustan Times
14 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Acting teacher Kishore Kapoor's accountant booked for siphoning off ₹43L
MUMBAI: Acting guru Kishore Namit Kapoor—whose students include Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, and Allu Arjun—has accused his longtime accountant of betraying his trust and siphoning off nearly ₹43 lakh from his institute and personal accounts. Acting teacher Kishore Kapoor's accountant booked for siphoning off ₹ 43L The Versova police have registered a case of cheating and criminal breach of trust against the accused, identified as Pravin Shrivastav, under IPC sections 406, 408, and 420. Kapoor, 76, a veteran actor and one of the most well-known acting teachers in the country, has been running the Kishore Namit Kapoor Acting Institute from a bungalow in Four Bungalows, Andheri, since 2000. The institute has trained hundreds of aspiring actors in four batches every year, each with around 40 students. The roots of the alleged fraud date back to 2010, when a young aspiring actor named Prashant Shrivastav enrolled in the institute. After completing the course and failing to land acting work, Prashant began assisting Kapoor with bookkeeping and administrative tasks. In 2015, citing the death of his father, Prashant left for his village but recommended his younger brother Pravin for the role. Pravin, police said, soon became a trusted fixture in Kapoor's life—managing not just the institute's accounts, but also handling Kapoor's and his wife's personal finances, credit cards, and bill payments. For several years, everything appeared to be in order. It wasn't until 2023 that Kapoor began to suspect something was amiss. He noticed a sharp drop in student enrolments. When he asked Pravin about it, he was told that aggressive advertising campaigns had been rolled out across YouTube, newspapers, and social media platforms like Facebook. However, Kapoor's instincts told him otherwise. He sent a staff member to an advertising agency in Kandivali, only to be told that not only had no such advertisements been placed—but the agency was still owed money from past dealings. Further inquiries revealed a disturbing pattern. Several bills had gone unpaid—including for electricity, water, internet, stationery, and even the institute's rent. Pravin repeatedly claimed there were no available funds. By September 2023, Pravin had disappeared altogether. His phone was switched off and he stopped coming to work. When Kapoor's staff checked the institute's computers, they found that all accounting data had been wiped clean. A deeper audit revealed that over two years—from April 2021 to September 2023—Pravin had allegedly been systematically withdrawing money from Kapoor and his wife's personal bank accounts and using the funds for his own benefit. 'He had access to everything—bank accounts, credit cards, online payment gateways. He used that trust to his advantage,' said a police officer from Versova police station. The accused reportedly continued to promise he would return the money, but no repayments were made. After months of silence, Kapoor approached the police and filed a formal complaint. Police have launched a search for Pravin Shrivastav, who remains absconding. Officers are also working to recover deleted data from the computers and trace the money trail through bank transactions. 'This is not just a financial fraud. It's a betrayal of trust built over years,' the officer added.