A second-year undergraduate student of the autonomous Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam, and a member of the Students Federation of India (SFI) was stabbed to death by alleged activists of the Campus Front of India and the Popular Front of India here on Sunday midnight following differences over wall graffiti welcoming newcomers to the campus.
Abhimanyu, 20, a student of B.Sc. Environmental Chemistry and a resident of Vattavada in Idukki, succumbed to his injuries before he was brought to the nearby Government General Hospital, Ernakulam. He was also a member of the SFI district unit in Idukki.
Two other SFI workers were also stabbed by the assailants. The condition of Arjun, 19, a second-year student of BA Philosophy, who was admitted to Ernakulam Medical Trust Hospital, continued to remain ‘critical’. Vineeth, a third semester student of MA Economics, who received stab injuries in his leg, was discharged from the General Hospital.
The police have taken into custody two workers of the Campus Front of India and one activist of the Popular Front of India in connection with the incident. They include Bilal of Kottayam, Farooq of Pathanamthitta, and Riyas of Fort Kochi. The search for the remaining members of the gang was on.
The row
A row over the wall graffiti, welcoming newcomers to the campus, escalated after Campus Front of India workers allegedly painted the wall booked by SFI workers. SFI workers later painted over the writing by the Campus Front of India. Abhimanyu, Arjun and Vineeth were putting up posters and finishing the wall graffiti when an armed gang attacked them around midnight on Sunday. Vineeth recalled that it was all over in a flash before the group fled from the scene.
Principal K. N. Krishna Kumar said that regular classes will resume on July 4 following the incident. A decision on first-year undergraduate classes will be taken later, he said. Hundreds of students, teachers and non-teaching staff turned up to pay their last respects to Abhimanyu when his body was brought to the campus.
The SFI alleged that professional killers were behind the incident. C.N. Mohanan, CPI(M) district secretary, alleged that it was a planned murder. The SDPI leadership condemned the murder and claimed that efforts to blame it for the incident were made with malicious intent.
