Bombs and bullets made a comeback on election-bound Calcutta campuses as the turf war triggered by the Trinamul Congress’s entry into CPM bastions turned ugly on Friday and even spilled onto the streets.

Goons in the garb of students hurled crude bombs and pelted stones at each other outside Maharaja Srishchandra College, on Bhupen Bose Avenue, in the evening, sending commuters scurrying for cover and forcing police to burst teargas shells.

Police teams later barricaded the Shyambazar Metro station as the campus scuffle raged on the street for close to two hours, crippling the area.

Earlier in the day, bombs were hurled and shots fired in the air outside Naba Ballygunge Mahavidyalaya — formerly known as Charuchandra College — in Kasba’s Bosepukur after news leaked about 16 Trinamul Chhatra Parishad election candidates clearing the scrutiny of nominations, against three from the CPM-affiliated Students’ Federation of India (SFI).

Behala College, at Parnasree, also witnessed violence with around 200 alleged Trinamul Chhatra Parishad members ransacking the principal’s chamber and damaging furniture in three classrooms. The troublemakers claimed that the college authorities were siding with the SFI.

The three incidents have proved right principals who had petitioned the government in October for special security measures in colleges against the backdrop of escalating rivalry between the Trinamul and the CPM.

“Student elections this year are likely to be volatile given the present political scenario. We need to take some additional measures to ensure that our institutions run smoothly when they reopen after the vacation,” Anjan Sengupta, the general secretary of the West Bengal Principals’ Council, had told Metro.

The higher education department had contemplated making it mandatory to hold elections in all colleges of the city on the same day to minimise chances of violence. A notice was later issued asking Calcutta University to consult college principals and “explore ways” to hold polls peacefully but nothing came of it.

Friday’s violence at Naba Ballygunge Mahavidyalaya, where elections are slated for January 5, was triggered by the SFI’s alleged attempt to prevent Trinamul-backed candidates from contesting. The Trinamul union had ransacked the union room last Tuesday to protest SFI members allegedly snatching the fee books of some students to stop them from filing nominations.

“A prospective candidate is required to clear his or her college dues and submit the fee book as proof while submitting the nomination. The SFI union members tried to sabotage our members’ chances by withholding the fee books on some flimsy pretext,” alleged BCom second-year student Sayan Dutta, the convener of the Trinamul union. Leaders of the SFI dismissed the allegations.

Caught in the crossfire were commuters on the busy Gariahat-Bypass connector, from 11.30am.