Days after a protest broke out in Jadavpur University during state education minister Bratya Basu’s visit to the campus, the West Bengal government on Wednesday decided to upgrade his security to the “Z” category.

A senior official of the state home department said, “The way the Education minister’s convoy was attacked, the minister could have been assaulted physically. There was a serious security lapse. So, the state home department decided to increase his security arrangement to the “Z” category.”

Meanwhile, protests at Jadavpur University continued for the third consecutive day  Wednesday, as students demanded action against alleged assaults on their peers. The protesting students had set a 4 pm deadline for interim vice-chancellor Bhaskar Gupta to address their grievances. However, Gupta did not appear, as he was admitted to a private hospital in the morning, officials said. As per his family sources, his blood pressure had elevated since the incident happened and on Wednesday morning as he was feeling uneasy, he was hospitalised.  Bratya Basu also visited Gupta in the evening.

However, the protesting students said that their protests would continue until the V-C asks the police to withdraw cases against students.  Both AIDSO and SFI members Wednesday also alleged that the police, including some women personnel, attacked the students in Medinipur during the strike.