A final year student was lynched on the Law College campus of Patna by more than 10 unidentified people using hockey sticks, iron rods, bricks and sticks under the Sultanganj police station on Monday, May 27, 2024.
The deceased Harsh Raj is an undergraduate student of Functional English Vocational Course studying in B.N. College. According to the police, as soon as he came out after taking the exams, more than 10 people attacked him near the auditorium of the Law College campus in which the 22-year-old student received a major head injury. He was taken to the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) where he was declared dead.
The deceased was a resident of Vaishali district and was staying in a rented house in the Boring Canal Road locality.
City Superintendent of Police (East), Patna, Bharat Soni on Tuesday said the main accused Chandan Yadav has been arrested.
“We have arrested Chandan Yadav, the main accused in the case. We have also identified the others who were involved in the crime. Continuous raids are being conducted by the Special Investigation Team to catch the absconders. We will not spare anyone in the case,“ said Mr. Soni.
Protest march
Several student organisations staged a protest march in Patna against the killing of the student and demanding capital punishment for the culprits.
Recalling the incident, Harsh Raj’s friend Bahu Kumar, who was present on the spot, said, “When we came outside after the exam, around more than 10 people attacked him. I was also hit by sticks but I ran away. Harsh was also running away from the spot but he got hit by a tree and he fell down after which the mob caught him. Most of the people have covered their faces to hide their identity.”
Requesting anonymity, one of his friends said the possible reason for the lynching could be the decision to contest Patna University Student’s Union (PUSU) election scheduled later this year. Harsh Raj was very active in the social cause as well and helped several people during the Corona period. He also used to run an organisation in the name of Lok Nayak Yuva Parishad and has a very good hold among the students.
Police have lodged a First Information Report (FIR) against more than one dozen people on the complaint of his father Ajit Kumar, who is a journalist in a local newspaper. Mr. Kumar said he had asked his son not to contest the PUSU election but he was adamant to do so.
Harsh Raj was continuously campaigning in Samastipur for the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) candidate Shambhavi Kunal Choudhary in the Lok Sabha election.
“Harsh Raj, who always stood firmly with me as a brother during the Samastipur elections and even before that, is no longer with us. Some anti-social elements have murdered him in Patna Law college. We request the administration to investigate this murder thoroughly and the culprits should be identified and arrested as soon as possible. A mother has lost her son, and the father has lost his support in old age,” Ms. Choudhary said in a press statement.
Exams cancelled
Patna University Vice-Chancellor Professor K.C. Sinha expressed grief over the incident and announced cancellation of all the ongoing examinations till further notice.
“The entire university administration is shocked over the incident in which one of our students died. I urge the police to identify those responsible and take strong action against them. All the ongoing examinations have been cancelled till further notice,” Mr. Sinha said.
Published - May 28, 2024 10:03 am IST
