Day 2: LU brawl spills on to streets, hostellers stage protest at IT crossing
Clash erupts again, this time at the IT crossing on Thursday, as 25-30 students thrash a few hostellers who were out for refreshments, says an eyewitness
LUCKNOW The clash between two groups of students at Lucknow University, following an ego tussle on Wednesday that left 19 injured, intensified with another brawl between hostellers and day scholars at IT crossing on Thursday evening, which was followed by a protest by over 200 students who blocked the road citing “negligence by university authorities.”
A verbal tussle between the groups that began on Wednesday at the canteen in front of the journalism department resulted in a brawl with students brandishing cricket stumps and sticks.The violence on the campus spilled over to the Hanuman Setu area in no time. Subsequently, the PAC was deployed and the university formed a five-member committee to probe into the incident.
However, the clash erupted again at the IT crossing on Thursday when over 25-30 students thrashed a few hostellers who were out for some refreshments, said an eyewitness.
“In no time, we were surrounded by them. They carried guns, iron rods and got hold of sugarcane sticks from a nearby makeshift store, which were used as weapons to beat us. One amongst us sustained a nose injury while two suffered head injuries when they were hit by the butt of a gun. Two sustained leg injuries while over a dozen suffered minor injuries during the incident,” lamented a student injured in the clash.
Soon after the news broke, hundreds of hostellers headed towards IT crossing and staged a protest by blocking the roads for over an hour. They raised their voice against the “negligence by authorities.”
LU chief proctor Rakesh Dwivedi, along with some members of the proctorial committee, swiftly reached the IT crossing to ease the situation and stall the protest. He said the incident was in continuation of the clash that took place on Wednesday.
“The students staged a protest after the brawl. The protest was stalled after police assured that appropriate action will be taken against those involved in the violence. The university will also take strict action against those involved,” he added.
Additional deputy commissioner of police (central) Manisha Singh said the incident was a brawl between hostellers and day scholars. “Those injured during the violence went through a medical examination. A team has been sent for arresting those accused in the incident,” she said.
Another student shared that the brawl on Wednesday was a wakeup call for the authorities, and no concrete action was taken by the police or university authorities, which was the main reason behind the protest.
After blocking the crossing, the students progressed to the vice-chancellor’s residence and continued the protest. They withdrew it for the day, after an assurance by the police for appropriate action in the next 12 hours, said a student.
