Students’ groups clash at Arya College,gunshots fired
Two students groups clashed on Thursday to exert control over Arya College Students Union,an unofficial students body of the college.
Two students groups clashed on Thursday to exert control over Arya College Students Union,an unofficial students’ body of the college. The ugly clash saw the use of hockey sticks and swords,and later culminated into a shootout. The incident led to an atmosphere of fear and tension on the college premises.
The clash turned violent when members of the two groups resorted to gun shots which forced people present on the campus to run for cover.
Student leaders Ankit Alagh alias Bagga and Resham Singh got into a confrontation over the post of president in the students’ union. They had separately declared their unions with the same name — Arya College Students Union — but when Ankit Alagh’s group pasted posters declaring him the as president of the students’ union,it resulted in a clash between the two factions.
Ankit was later rushed to the emergency ward of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital by his friends. He suffered a head injury and a stab injury on his right arm. BA final year student Resham Singh suffered a cut on his left arm and was taken to the Ludhiana Mediciti Hospital by his group members. Both of them are now said to be stable.
Ankit,who has applied for admission in MA History first year,told the police that he was attacked by seven to eight persons,including Resham Singh and Sunny. They fired at him but missed the target,he said.
Based on Ankit’s statement,the police have registered a case under Section 307 of the IPC against Resham and Sunny,putting the former under arrest at the hospital.
The two others who were injured in the clash include Yogesh Batish who was also admitted to DMCH and Gurinder Singh who was taken to the Civil Hospital. Yogesh said he was not involved in the clash and had gone to the college to submit his marks certificate. “As I came out of the college,some students started beating me up but I kept telling them that I had no role to play in the clash.” An eyewitness said the members of the two groups openly brandished swords,a rifle and a pistol in what turned out to be the worst fallout of student politics in the college despite a ban on holding elections for student’s bodies. The police have asked the principal of the college to cease entry of outsiders into the college. College principal Dr SM Sharma could not be contacted after repeated attempts.
Unfortunate: ACTU
The Arya College Teachers’ Union termed the incident as unfortunate and a blot on the image of the college. P S Bhogal,president of ACTU,said the incident had brought to the fore the vulnerability of the college to such incidents. “As many as 28 teachers had given a memorandum to the principal about recurring incidents in the college in July 2008,saying some students misbehaved with them. But it seems the principal is not doing his job properly and is fostering certain elements in the college which is not acceptable,” said Bhogal,adding that the union squarely blamed the
principal for not carrying out the
duty of the head of the
institution appropriately.
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