A seemingly straight-forward case of ragging of a junior student registered against several seniors in a private engineering college here on Monday took a different turn on Tuesday.
During an inquiry conducted by the City Crime Branch, the college management accused the victim of being involved in the kidnap of the seniors and informed the police that the complainant has been placed under suspension.
According to police sources, Ajmal Mohammed Fariz (18), a first year student of B.E. (Automobile Engineering) at a college at Saravanamapatti here, had alleged ragging by his seniors.
He claimed that a group of second year students including Sibi, Suganth, Vignesh, Rajesh, and others, had warned him not to use his car for commuting to the college.
Fariz alleged that as he refused to heed their warning, the seniors assaulted him on March 18 leading to hospitalisation as he had suffered bleeding injuries to his hand, head and shoulders.
Fariz said that no action was taken by the college even after he lodged a complaint with the authorities.
Following this, Fariz and his father Assan Mohammed Fariz met the Police Commissioner A.K.Viswanathan on Monday.
The City Crime Branch registered a case against the students later in the day and invoked Sections 147 (rioting), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence or giving false information) and 202 (intentional omission to give information of offence) of Indian Penal Code besides the provisions of Tamil Nadu Prevention of Ragging Act of 1997.
Cases were also filed against the college Principal R.S. Kumar and other members of the management charging them with having failed to report an incident of ragging to the police.
P. Chandramohan, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Crime (Central), conducted an inquiry on Tuesday in which all the parties involved were questioned.
The college Principal alleged the complainant (Fariz) was placed under suspension after his relatives allegedly kidnapped Sibi and Suganth, two of the seniors who allegedly harassed him.
A case was pending in this regard in the Saravanampatti police station.
This was a dispute between two groups of students that was being portrayed as ragging, he contended.
Refuting allegations of inaction, he said the college had expelled one of the seniors involved in the incident and placed a few others under suspension.
Police officials said that further investigations into the matter are on.
