Bhubaneswar: Altogether seven students of Parala Maharaja Engineering College in Odisha’s Ganjam district were rusticated for allegedly holding a beef party on their campus.

The principal of the government-run engineering college, located on the outskirts of Berhampur city, rusticated the students after receiving a complaint in this regard.

The administration has deployed armed police personnel at the college to check any untoward incident.

As per the complaint, the accused students had cooked beef on their campus and ate the same on September 11. They had allegedly served beef to some other students of the college.

The incident had triggered tension on the campus. Some activists of Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) had raised the issue with the college principal and lodged an FIR in this regard with Gopalpur police.

Despite repeated attempts, the colleges authorities refused to comment on the issue.

The locals, meanwhile, have urged the administration as well as the college authorities to take appropriate steps for avoiding similar incidents in the future.