K C Belliappa, Vice Chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi Central University who was briefly arrested for allegedly sending an 'offensive' e-mail to a lady faculty member, today claimed that the person who filed a complaint against him has a track record of maligning his predecessors.

"It may be noted that the person concerned has a track record of maligning even previous Vice Chancellors. The University records would establish it beyond any doubt," he said in a statement.

Belliappa, who was later released on bail, was rounded up yesterday by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in Itanagar on a complaint by a woman colleague.

In her complaint, the woman had accused the VC of making derogatory reply to an e-mail sent from her mail ID on April l3 last. The first mail, sent from her account, had been sent without her knowledge by "some unknown person using my mail ID".

"If the email ID was indeed hacked as it is being said so, it goes without saying that the response was sent to the hacker since it did not address anybody in particular," he said.

"The timing of the so called hacking and my subsequent arrest coincides with the timing of the systematic malicious campaign engineered against me by ambitious individuals from within the University, to hit out at me physically, emotionally and psychologically," he said.

The arrest capped the months' long agitation by students against Belliappa alleging he had indulged in nepotism and demanding the VC be removed. This had prompted the VC to announce that he will shift office to Delhi on May 2.