Route rowdies unchecked, now a student is dead

Chennai: Under the indulgent gaze of the city police, the route rowdy culture in a few colleges has claimed the life of a student.
A week after being attacked by a gang of about 15 students in full public view at Chennai Central, 19-year-old A Sundar, a political science student at Presidency College, succumbed to his head injuries on Wednesday. While police arrested five students -- Chandru, Eswar, Yuvaraj, Hari Prasad, and Kamaleshwaran -- all belonging to Pachaiyappa's College on charges of assault on Oct 5 itself, the rest of the gang is still at large.
Over the years, police and college administrations have handled these rowdies with kids' gloves. Likewise the courts. Even last month, while releasing some students on bail, a city court assigned them community service -- acting as traffic marshals or doing duty at hospitals -- as conditions. The student's death should serve as a wake-up call.
The root-cause of the clashes on campus, on buses and on trains and at railway platforms is Chennai's infamous route rowdy culture, wherein one youth is ‘elected' leader of the route. Trouble arises when there is more than one college on the route concerned. Students hijack buses, dance on the roof, bring traffic to a halt and intimidate other road-users, all in the name of ‘celebration'. Students of different colleges also frequently clash in public.
As for Sundar's death, a senior officer told TOI that it was not due to the route rowdy issue and that trouble started because he chatted with a girl.
Ramar, principal, Presidency College, said he would meet his counterpart in Pachaiyappa's College, along with police officers, on or after Oct 15 for a "detailed discussion and solution".
City commissioner of police, A Arun, has formed a special team to keep tabs on errant students. Triplicane deputy commissioner of police Santhosh Hadimani, Kilpauk DCP Raghupathy, and Joint Commissioners of Police participated in the meeting.
"We have collected lists of errant students from colleges. Policemen will visit their houses and meet their parents and also advise the students to stay away from creating a ruckus in public places," said an officer in the special team.
The railway police too have said they will get tough. "Students found guilty of creating ruckus inside railway premises shall be sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. CCTV grabs or video clips are valid proof under the new criminal laws," said an officer.