The bodies of four engineering students, three of whom died while fleeing a police lathicharge on students protesting the death of their classmate due to alleged negligence by varsity doctors, were handed over to their parents on Tuesday night, officials said.
The bodies of Ashish Ranjan Kumar and Sarbadas were fished out from Palaman canal near here yesterday and that of Sumit Kumar on March 1.
The students went on a rampage, damaging five cars in the university campus after Vice-Chancellor Ramanathan reportedly refused to meet them on March 1 to discuss the “negligence” of University medical college doctors in treating a student injured in a road accident on February 28.
The student was admitted to the University medical college hospital that day. He was later referred to the JIPMER (Jawaharlal Institute of Post graduate Medical Education and Research) hospital in Puducherry, but died en route.
Following a complaint by the Vice-Chancellor, police rushed to the university and requested them to disperse, which failed to evoke any response. They then made a lathicharge, injuring 13 students.
On behalf of the government, Health minister M. R. K. Pannerselvam and Collector P. Seetharaman placed wreaths on the bodies of the students on Tuesday night, before they were handed over to their parents.
