Retracted papers: First reaction from IIT-K

The IIT-K plagiarism case has been picked up by ToI's Mathang Seshagiri, who brings us the first official reactions to the case:

An embarrassed IIT-Kanpur has constituted an inquiry committee. ''This is a very serious issue. We cannot accept plagiarism of any sort. But at the same time we want to examine the case carefully. I have constituted a committee of eminent people to examine the issue and we will take action based on their findings,'' IIT-Kanpur director Sanjay Dhande told TOI.

Update (10.10.10): This IE story talks about a 3-member committee:

The committee which comprises Professor Ashwini Kumar, Professor Somenath Bishwas and Professor Kalyanmoy Deb is expected to hand over its report in the next 10 days. It will be presented before the chairman of the board of governors of IIT-K on November 2. The institute’s authorities will contact national experts for a detailed investigation.

It also quotes Director Dhande as saying this:

Plagiarism is a major charge and if found true, a written notice would be served to the alleged persons. [Bold emphasis added]

Alleged persons?