Southern States
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Tamil Nadu-Chennai
Trouble began at nearby hotel?
By P. Oppili and Saptarshi Bhattacharya
CHENNAI, DEC. 8. Conflicting reports emanated throughout the day about the sequence of events that led to the Friday night's hour-long skirmish involving students of Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College, local groups and the police at the college hostel on Millers Road, Kilpauk.
The affray resulted in injuries to 60 persons including 17 police personnel and 11 members of the public, besides the hostel inmates. Nearly 35 students, six hotel employees and nine persons were arrested, the police said.
The heavily-damaged college bus stood a mute testimony to the pitched battle. In the hostel on Millers Road, Kilpauk, the scene was worse. A blood-stained corridor led to Room No. 29 where furniture and belongings lay scattered.
The Police Commissioner, Mr. K. Muthukaruppan, said trouble began around 10-45 a.m when a group of students, who dined at a nearby hotel, ran short of money by Rs. 30. They told the hotel staff that they would pay later, but Mr. Shanmugam, an employee, insisted on immediate payment. The students went back to the hostel and returned with a large group and allegedly went on the rampage in the hotel attacking Mr. Shanmugam.
But the students claimed that the problem began when the hotel staff reportedly roughed up a first year student. ``When we rushed to the spot, we were greeted with a shower of splintered glass and broken bottles from the buildings on the other side of the road. The whole of the campus and a portion of the road is still full of broken glasses,'' Mr. N. Ajanatesh, a final year student, said.
The hotel owner, Mr. Palaninathan, said the fight started among the two groups of students outside the diner. ``One of my employees is admitted to hospital with a head injury. The police came in about half an hour and drove away the enraged students, who, by then, were venting their ire on the public.''
Mr. Muthukaruppan said the students, after damaging the glass panes at a nearby cinema and some shops, allegedly dragged into the hostel a passer-by, Mr. Malarvannan, an autorickshaw driver.
This enraged the hotel employees who, along with the police, entered the hostel. Using a ``mild force'' on the inmates, Mr. Malarvannan was rescued, the Commissioner said.
But, an injured law student said the police in ``filmi style'' used a van to force open the gate and ``chased us.'' ``They started indiscriminately lathicharging us, even entered our rooms. A group of local rowdies were also there with them.''
However, Mr. Muthukaruppan said ``when we attempted to enter the hostel, the students hurled petrol bombs, bottles and other missiles on us. A police patrol van and two motorcycles were damaged.'' Mr. Baskaran, ACP, Tirumangalam, was among the injured personnel.
The police booked four cases against the students based on the complaints received. Besides, a case against the hotel employees, the public and the police was preferred by a student.
The students also complained of ``police high-handedness'' to the Commissioner when he visited the spot this morning.
Approached for details, Prof. C. Robin, college principal, said ``I have nothing to say.''
The KMC authorities were forced to open a disaster ward to accommodate 23 injured law students. They were undergoing treatment for fractures and other injuries, Dr. P. Seddhan, hospital Dean, said.
Various student organisations including the Students Federation of India, the All India Students Federation and the Dalit Panthers of India, and the former Minister, Mr. Durai Murugan, condemned the attack.
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