It had been claimed earlier that the man had masturbated, although APU chief operating officer Gurpardeep Singh has since dismissed the allegation.

“He was not masturbating but had removed his pants,” he told FMT.

Gurpardeep said police were immediately called in after the incident came to light, adding that checks found the suspect had no ties to the university whatsoever.

He said that according to the police, the suspect is said to be of unsound mind.

“He is definitely not an APU student nor an APU staff or in any way connected to APU,” he said.

Gurpardeep said the seminar was not organised by the university but by several schools.

He said an internal probe was under way.

“We need to know when and how this person entered the hall with the students,” he said.

FMT has reached out to the police for comment.

A viral social media post claimed that the man had entered the auditorium with the students for the seminar, which involved two secondary schools. One of the schools is said to have allowed its students to attend in normal clothes.

The netizen claimed the man started masturbating about 40 minutes into the seminar, which made a girl seated next to him cry. A teacher then intervened and ordered the man to leave the auditorium.

The man could be seen in the video putting on and zipping up his pants before leaving the hall.