Former Rutgers Student Charged With Arson

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) — A former Rutgers student has been charged with setting a fire in a school building last week that forced the evacuation of more than 200 students taking a final exam.

Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew Carey said Thursday that 21-year-old Shayam Sridhar, of Edison, was charged with second-degree aggravated arson. Prosecutors say he set the fire last Saturday in the Allison Road Classroom at Rutgers' Busch campus in Piscataway.

He was being held on $75,000 bail at the Middlesex County Adult Corrections Center. It wasn't immediately clear if he had an attorney.

Prosecutors say he left Rutgers after spending time as a student this semester but that he planned to return next month.

No one was injured in the fire, but prosecutors say it heavily damaged portions of a hallway and classroom.

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