Tension prevailed on Anna Salai in Nandanam for nearly 30 minutes on Wednesday afternoon when two groups of students of the Government Arts College, Nandanam, clashed. A second year student was attacked with knives and clubs in full public view.
The incident was a result of a long-standing feud among two groups of students, police said. K. Arun Kumar (21), studying second year B.A. History, who suffered cut injuries on his head and left hand, has been admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital.
“Around 12.30 p.m. we were waiting at the bus stop opposite our college when a group of more than 15 youngsters came running towards us. I tried to flee but was cornered by five of them at the dead-end of a street nearby. They attacked me with knives and clubs,” said Arun Kumar, a resident of Muthumariamman Koil Street, Palavakkam Kuppam. Doctors at the hospital said his condition is stable.
Police said the armed group then went after those who were with Arun Kumar at the bus stop. The clash between them created considerable scare among passersby and motorists in the area. The students who were with the victim fled from the spot after being brutally attacked by the group.
Within minutes of the incident, a police team rounded up three students of the Government Arts College inside an MTC bus in Teynampet while they were trying to escape. The trio, carrying knives, were identified as Gopinathan (20), a second year BCS student, Selvaraj (21), studying 3rd year B.A. History and Mani (19), a student of 2nd year B.A. Economics, Saidapet police sources said. “The three were part of a group of students who travel on MTC bus services from Ayanavaram. The students of the college often form groups based on the MTC routes they take and try to assert their supremacy over students using other MTC routes. This incident is one such and the attack on the students from the Saidapet route was planned,” said a senior investigating officer.
The Saidapet police arrested the three youngsters and a search is on for others involved in the clash.
