They missed their B.Tech exam and ended up in hospital

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: B.Tech students Sachin M and Muhammad Ashkar, who were roughed up in a Bengaluru-bound Suresh Kallada Travels bus and later thrown out of the vehicle, were on their way to appear for the final semester examination scheduled for Monday. Third-year computer science students at Excel Engineering College, Salem, they boarded the bus on Saturday night from their home town Haripad.

When TOI reached them on Monday, both were undergoing treatment for injuries and bruises at a private hospital in Erode and had missed the exam. Sachin has suffered a head injury too.

Sachin and Ashkar were brutally beaten up by a gang of 10 or 12 people near the Kallada office at Vyttila. Another passenger, Ajayaghosh, was also beaten up by the gang. Petrified by the attack, they ran for kilometres nonstop to save their lives. Finally, Ashkar called police control room by hiding inside an ATM.

They alleged that they didn’t get the expected support from the police while the goons were chasing them.

“When we boarded the bus, it was already late by 20 minutes. Worried that we may miss the examination, we argued with the bus crew when the bus broke down. The Kallada Travels staff behaved aggressively and there was no information on alternative arrangement. Later, police help was sought and another bus came after three hours. A group of drunken men woke us up at Vytilla. The co-passenger who was thrown out of bus along with us fainted there itself during the assault. Later, they chased us and we ran to different directions. They threatened to kill us both,” said Sachin.

Ashkar, who was hiding at another location, contacted the police. “Though a team of police officers rushed to the spot, they left after a few minutes. By the time, the goons reached the spot where I was hiding and took me to their office. The goons threatened me in front of the police, who came to the spot. After much pleading, they searched for Sachin and found him at a location less than 100 meters away. The police officer arranged an auto for us, including the co-passenger, to go to hospital, but they did not accompany us,” said Ashkar.

Suspecting that the goons were following them, the students got down midway and went to Kaloor. With the help of a friend, they reached Aluva in a rented car and reached Erode by evening. All their luggage, including hall ticket, wallet and laptop were lost.