Dipankar Debnath at the hospital. (Anirban Choudhury)

Alipurduar, Dec. 3: A Chhatra Parishad (CP) leader of Alipurduar College was today assaulted allegedly by SFI members on the premises, prompting the student wing of the Congress to call an indefinite strike in the institution from tomorrow.

Dipankar Debnath, a second year student of BA and a class representative of the CP, is under treatment at the Alipurduar hospital. The injured student has lodged an FIR against six members of the SFI.

The college, which was closed till yesterday following a clash between the student wings of the Congress and the CPM in town on Friday, had reopened today. The principal, Subroto Panchanan, had called a meeting of representatives of all student organisations and teaching and non-teaching employees at 1.30pm to restore normality in the institution.

Anup Das, the president of Jalpaiguri district committee of the CP that runs the student union of the college, said: “When Dipankar was going to attend the meeting, the SFI members beat him up. Our leaders, who were in the meeting, left the venue in protest. The college authorities should call police to maintain law and order in the institution in view of the tension in town, but they did not take any such step. From tomorrow, the college will remain shut indefinitely.”

According to the principal, the meeting continued till 3pm but no one from the SFI, PSU and the AIDSO attended the meeting. “We are worried about the situation in the college and have informed the local administration and the university authorities.”

Balai Sarkar, the president of the Jalpaiguri district committee of the SFI, denied the assault charge on the Chhatra Parishad leader. “None of us had attacked Dipankar Debnath,” he said.