Filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan has resigned as chairperson of a film institute in Kerala named after Dalit President K.R. Narayanan following a row over caste discrimination alleged by staff and students.

Adoor met chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who is the president of the governing council of K.R. Narayanan National Institute of Visual Science and Arts, Kottayam, on Monday and submitted his resignation letter, the filmmaker told a media conference in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.

He urged the government to launch a police investigation into the allegations raised by the students and staff to bring out the truth on who were behind the controversy and said he “didn’t want to be chairperson of an institute that is on the path of destruction”.

Institute director Shankar Mohan, who was accused of discriminating against staff on the basis of their caste and sabotaging caste-based reservation in the admission process, resigned on January 21.

Adoor accused the students and staff of being misguided by a set of vested interests led by a watchman who was removed after being accused of selling liquor to hostilities. He reiterated his earlier allegation that the sweepers were “trained” how to speak before the media.

He accused the two-member inquiry commission set up by the chief minister of not having any background in the film industry and not being receptive to Mohan while recording his statement.