President of the Sikh Student Federation, Gurcharan Singh Grewal, defended Amritpal Singh Sekhon, saying the latter was being “harassed”.

“We have enquired into the matter and learnt that the student (Sekhon) was being harassed. We will take up the matter with the Vice-Chancellor on Monday,” Grewal told reporters.

“This is not the way the students are given farewell by their institutes. People must respect others’ religious beliefs,” he added.

The newly-elected students' union president, Mani Singla, also supported Sekhon. Singla said: “I had been a witness to the entire episode and I can say that no one had manhandled warden Dr B S Sandhu.”

“We will meet the V-C and inform him the true facts,” he added.

Refusing to comment on the day's events, Simrat Sagar, the Dean, of the college of veterinary sciences said: “We do not know about the intervention of the Sikh Student Federation. On our part, we just want to sort out the matter amicably.”

With the issue of religious sensitivity being involved in the incident, Sekhon, meanwhile, alleged that his religious books were “not handled properly” that had led him to meet the warden.

“Why did they (hostel authorities) choose to break my room only, even when many students had not vacated their rooms?” Sekhon questioned.

Refuting the allegations that he was illegally residing in the hostel for the last two months, Sekhon said, “I completed my degree course on July 31. So, there is no question that I had been illegally staying in the hostel for the last two months.”

On Thursday, GADVASU Teachers' Association held an emergency general body meeting and called for filing an FIR against Sekhon.