10 students injured in clash over submitting forms for free laptops

Chief Proctor (AU) Professor Mata Amber Tiwari said: “A student of KPUC hostel was first beaten up by a couple of students from Tara Chand hostel at 11.25 am. It was a minor issue and I pacified some of the angry students. Then,there was a meeting of the deans and I left the place. Later,a big group from the KPUC hostel came and began beating up the students from Tara Chand hostel.”

Prof Tiwari added that the students were “armed with hockey sticks,rods,stones and anything else they could land their hands on. They looked specifically for Tara Chand hostel students and beat them up,” he said.

The situation was brought under control only after the Rapid Action Force reached the campus.

Today was the second day for submission of forms for availing the laptops from the government. “Those students,who had completed their Class 12 and taken admission in first year bachelor courses,were supposed to download the form from the AU’s website and submit it in the office of the DSW. Two counters had been opened at 10 am and soon there were two long queues. The argument between students erupted over submitting the forms,” said an AU official. Following the violence,the counters were closed for the day.

Prof Tiwari added that despite the presence of policemen on the campus,the students turned violent. “The assailants chased down the students of Tara Chand hostel in various departments and then thrashed them. A second year B. Sc student,who was hiding behind me,was also beaten up despite my intervention. This is the first time I have seen students behave like this,” he said.

Prof Tiwari said that the identities of the injured boys were being ascertained and an FIR would be lodged against the culprits.

Of late,the atmosphere on the AU campus has been continuously deteriorating.

Earlier on Wednesday,the Allahabad High Court had ordered the District Magistrate and the Senior Superintendent of Police of Allahabad to appear before the court on Monday,to explain the alleged non-cooperation on their part to control the law and order situation on the campus despite several requests from the university authorities.

With the examinations having begun on March 5,today’s clash is likely to further deteriorate the condition on the university campus.