One of the hostel rooms that was ransacked. Picture by Rashbehari Das

Calcutta, June 13: The rain sent tempers soaring on the SSKM hospital campus as medical students clashed with each other over a new hostel this afternoon.

Supporters of the Students’ Federation of India and the Democratic Students’ Organisation fought with iron rods, stumps and wooden sticks, leaving several injured. Among them was Animesh Chakraborty, the inspector-in-charge of the police outpost at SSKM hospital, who tried to mediate.

Around noon, some DSO supporters stormed into the Institute of Post Graduate Medicine and Research (IPJMR) hostel demanding they be allowed to stay there.

The students said after the downpour, water had been leaking from the roofs of several rooms in the old hostel. “We asked the authorities to carry out repairs but they have not done anything. So we had to take this step,” one of them said.

“A group of students broke the locks of some of the rooms,” said Krishnendu Mukherjee, the acting director of the post-graduate institute.

“Although the construction is complete, the water and electricity connections are yet to be installed and so handover is not possible,” Mukherjee said. “I explained the situation to the students but they refused to listen. So I ordered them to vacate the rooms within an hour.”

The authorities were about to call the police around 4 pm when the SFI supporters arrived and a clash broke out in the hostel.

There were a few policemen at the outpost at that time. “I went to the hostel to request them to stop the fight but one of them tried to hit me on my head,” said Chakraborty. The blow landed on the inspector’s right arm.

The police said around 100 students were involved in the clash.

The SFI students allegedly chased the DSO supporters towards the hostel that currently houses the students. “They ransacked our rooms and severely beat us up,” a DSO leader said.

The SFI supporters said the DSO was trying to “illegally” occupy the rooms. “After they were asked to vacate, they beat up one of our friends,” said Koustav Chatterjee, an SFI leader.