The Kalamassery police on Friday arrested 25 students of the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) in connection with a clash between two groups of students on the campus the previous night. They were produced in a local court and remanded.
On Thursday night, the police had lathicharged the students belonging to both the factions, of which one was the Students Federation of India and the other was called “Malabari”.
A total of 11 persons, including five police personnel, including a sub-inspector, were injured in the incident.
The students were charged with unlawful assembly (Section 141 of the IPC), assaulting or obstructing public servant (Sec 152) and voluntarily causing hurt (Sec 324). Further probe is on, according to the police.
Sources said that the two groups had clashed over the conduct of Vipanchika, the annual college festival organised by the School of Engineering, Cusat. An argument over the issue resulted in a group of students destroying the SFI unit office on the campus. Later, SFI members forcibly entered the boys’ hostels and attacked students there around 11.30 p.m.
When the police arrived, the students attacked them too, throwing beer bottles and stones. This brought on the lathicharge, the police said.
Meanwhile, the Cusat authorities have instituted a preliminary investigation by a two-member committee comprising Dr. M.R. Radhakrishna Panicker, Principal, School of Engineering, and Dr S. Prathapan, Associate Professor, Applied Chemistry Department. The report will be submitted on Monday.
The university authorities said that strict action would be taken against those found guilty.
SFI unit secretary Sajad Chemmukkan said that there were 50-odd students in the “anti-social gang” who were creating problems at all the events on the campus. The university’s security report had mentioned this but the authorities had chosen to avoid this part of the report, he alleged. According to Sajad, there were five persons giving leadership to the anti-social activities of the group.
The rival faction, however, alleged that SFI members used to physically and mentally harass students from northern parts of the State.
