Intensifying their protest, a group of students of a defunct private medical college today climbed an elevated pathway of the under construction Metro Rail Project here, seeking admission in state-run institutions.
The 2011-12 and 2012-13 batch students of DD Medical College in nearby Tiruvallur, which has been shut after being de-recognised by the Medical Council of India in 2012, caused a stir as they climbed the pathway, which is at an height of about 45 feet, at the busy Guindy Junction, police said.
While a group of students squatted on the road, others continued to stay put on the elevated pathway and some even "attempted to commit suicide", leading to heavy traffic congestion in the arterial road for about two hours.
Police and Fire and Rescue services personnel forcibly removed the students, who have been staging various forms of protest in the past several weeks.
The students said this was "part of their ongoing agitation seeking admission in government medical colleges."
The Madras High Court in January this year had directed the state government to accommodate two batches of students of the college in government medical colleges in the academic year 2014-15 and also asked the Medical Council of India to create additional seats in the colleges.
The MCI, however, has contended that the order to accommodate the students by creating additional seats in government colleges was "patently illegal."
It also said the college had admitted students without getting its approval and cheated them.
