Southern States
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Tamil Nadu
30 law students hurt in lathicharge
By A. Subramani
CHENNAI, DEC. 8. In a mini-riot of sorts spanning over an hour from 11-30 p.m. on Friday, the police mounted a lathicharge on inmates of the Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College students hostel on Miller's Road here, leaving over 30 of them injured.
About 15 students sustained serious head injuries; nine others suffered bone fractures and were admitted to the Kilpauk Medical College hospital. Fortyfour others were taken into police custody. Most of the injured students are ruled out for this month's annual examination.
Sixteen policemen and 10 members of the public were also injured in the melee.
A minor fracas involving some restaurant employees and a group of hostel inmates assumed alarming proportions with the entry of the police. What began as a pitched battle between the two groups, took a bloody turn when the police embarked on a hot pursuit of the students. But it was only `innocent students' studying or sleeping in rooms who bore the brunt of the police charge.
``Ever since we staged a dharna against the recent round of price hikes the police had cast an eye on us, and this high-handedness was pre-planned, involving the police, employees of a theatre complex and the hotelier'', alleged a student.
With no help forthcoming from any quarter, a student was seen collecting money to buy tea and refreshments for his wounded classmates. Student organisations have condemned the attack.
Mr. Palaninathan, owner of Ganesh Hotel where the problem started, and employees of the theatre complex said it was not the first clash. Last year alone, two skirmishes involving students from the same hostel occurred in the area. Local residents had a litany of charges against the students - general misbehaviour, eve-teasing and rowdyism, at times spilling on the road. They contended that many `outsiders' were getting easy shelter in the hostel unlawfully. A senior police official said the police entered the hostel premises only ``to prevent a largescale clash between members of the public and the students''. The police rammed a van into the gate to enter the premises.
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