Raj Kumar, the Senior Superintendent of Police, said, “We had rounded up some students who had been rusticated by Gupta and questioned them but none of them were found involved.”

Most of the teachers at the college are hesitant to talk about the murder and the MLA’s threats. Rajendra Singh, appointed Principal after Gupta’s death, said, “I gave up the job within two months because of the involvement of politicians.”

Anil Kumar Garg, secretary of the college, said senior teachers had been shying away from the post. “Nobody wants to get into controversy after the incident last year.” Teachers said they faced problems from the politician for long but never from any of the students.

Shivkant Yadav, the present Principal and a junior lecturer, said, “There are occasional arguments with some student leaders but these are restricted to relevant issues; it is hard to believe that a student could have done such a thing.”

The BSP MLA was arrested on Sunday for allegedly “abducting” a woman television reporter Sheetal Birla. Pandit was shown as having been taken into custody from Shashikant Marg in Noida’s Sector-53 after Chief Minister Mayawati summoned him to her residence.

Sheetal’s father Dinesh Chand Birla had alleged that the legislator had married his daughter despite having a wife and two children.