BESU on the boil again, courtesy SFI and IC

The university was rocked by students’ protests in December last year, when it was shut down sine die on December 13 following trouble and violence in the campus over attendance.

It has been barely a week since the SFI emerged from the controversy during the Presidency College students’ elections.

Undergraduate students at the institute said trouble began late on Wednesday with a scuffle between both the unions.

“The RAF was called in around 2 am as a minor scuffle began to snowball into something big. But the bickering was not on political issues. Five students were injured as used hockey sticks and bricks were used in the fights,” said Registrar Bimal Bandopadhyay.

The injured were brought to the SSKM hospital late at night and released after first aid. They were interrogated by the police today.

Bandopadhyay added that both parties had submitted written complaints to the V-C and that a disciplinary committee will look into the matter.

The students, however, had a different story to tell. “Certain IC supporters, who were under the influence of alcohol, abused some of the Group D staff in front of the Wolfenden Hall,” said SFI district secretary Subhasish Bhattacharya. When the SFI students objected, they were beaten up with hockey sticksEven the professors were not spared from the abuse, he added. The IC supporters, he said, always creates trouble in the campus in order to sabotage any upcoming exams.

“It started when a few non-Bengali students were abused by some third-year SFI students near the Wolfenden Hall. Then a scuffle broke out between IC and SFI supporters around 11:30 pm on Wednesday,” an IC supporter said. She added that both parties later returned to the Hall with reinforcements and thrashed each other till the police arrived. Classes were conducted as usual today, but police patrol will continue till the exams are over.

Howrah SP Niraj Singh has requested the V-C to ensure that the hostel is vacated if violence continues. “No police complaints have been made, though,” Singh said.