Classes at an engineering college in Kochi have been suspended after a group of north Indian students protested alleging that they were “tricked” into eating beef cutlets, The Indian Express reported.

Cochin University of Science and Technology’s Vice Chancellor J Letha has asked for a report from the principal of the engineering college in Kochi’s Kuttanad, and has asked him to file a police complaint, the Hindustan Times reported.

“We have decided to indefinitely close down the campus from today [Wednesday],” the vic chancellor told The Times of India. “Meanwhile, we are also trying to resolve the issue.”

On January 25, after a seminar at the college, some students claimed that they were told that the beef cutlets being served as refreshments was a vegetarian dish. The students alleged they were tricked into eating beef and that their “religious sentiments” had been hurt.

The college management, however, said it had no role in deciding the menu of the refreshments as the seminar was conducted by a private bank.

“I left the function after inaugurating it,” the principal N Sunilkumar told the Hindustan Times. “It was organised by some banks. Officials told us there were separate counters for vegetarian and non-vegetarian items.”

The students, however, protested demanding that the principal be suspended. University authorities held a meeting with the agitators, and promised a swift inquiry and action against those involved. However, the talks failed, according to The Times of India.

The vice-chancellor has now formed a committee to look into the allegations. “It is not in our hands to establish if the cutlets were beef,” Letha said, according to NDTV. “I have asked the principal to file a police complaint.”

Meanwhile, a group of students led by Himanshu Kumar, an activist of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, has filed a complaint with the district collector, NDTV reported.