Police had to enter the campus of Vel's University in Pallavaram on Thursday to defuse tension following clashes between two sections of students. After the police intervention, the university was closed down indefinitely.
A section of students alleged that north Indians targeted those from the south, especially Tamilians. Sources said a second year student hailing from Tamil Nadu was injured on Thursday, which, according to police, was a fall-out of a quarrel between two sections of students a couple of days ago. A large number of policemen were deployed to defuse the situation.
Police said that during the quarrel two days ago, the Pallavaram police reached the spot on getting information, but neither the students nor the college management lodged a complaint, preferring to resolve the issue amicably. In the absence of a complaint, they were unable to take any action, Chennai Suburban Police sources added.
Ishari K. Ganesh, Chancellor, Vel's University, said a disciplinary committee was investigating the incidents and action would be taken against the erring students on Friday when the committee would submit its report. Around 50 students who had been involved in the incidents had been asked to vacate their hostel rooms for a week in the meantime, he said. In Nathan Nagar in Selaiyur, East Tambaram, a group of students in second and third year engineering reportedly barged into a house, in which first years students from Bihar were living. One of the students, who preferred not to be named, said he was a student of First Year Instrumentation Engineering at Bharath Institute of Science and Technology.
Along with his classmates who had hired a room in Nathan Nagar, close to the college premises, he had resisted attempts by his senior students who forced them to consume alcohol and meat in the past few months. “Around 9 p.m., a group of senior students barged into our house and assaulted us. They took away our laptops and gadgets before damaging property in our house,” the student said.
They were afraid of approaching the police for fear of backlash from students and the college authorities, the student said. Soon after the incident took place on Wednesday, it was the residents of M.G.R and Bharath Nagar who rushed to the help of the students, administering first aid.
