Sumant Samrat alias Babloo at PMCH after he was attacked by criminals on the Patna College campus on Friday. Picture by Ashok Sinha

Patna, Feb. 25: Six armed persons thrashed a Patna Law College student mercilessly on the varsity campus this evening after their bullets missed him by a few inches.

The injured second-year student, Sumant Samrat alias Babloo, was on his way out of the campus after taking his final year exam when he was attacked.

A general secretary of the RJD’s students’ wing, he has been admitted to Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH).

Sumant’s friends claimed that cops on the campus remained mute spectators to the attack. The irate students have threatened to lock Patna University and stall the ongoing examination until the police arrested the assailants.

The police denied any incident of firing on the campus and played down the incident saying, the incident was an outcome of a squabble between two groups of friends.

Deputy superintendent of police (DSP), town Ramakant Prasad said it was a fight between two groups of the same college.

“The incident is not very serious. There has been no firing. Both the groups got involved in similar squabbles earlier. We are looking for one Ajit Kumar, a student of the same college and also an RJD member, who is said to be involved in the incident,” the officer said.

In sharp contrast, Sumant’s friends claimed the assailants were outsiders and they fired at least 10 rounds before attacking Sumant with hockey sticks and rods.

“It was 5pm. Sumant and two others came out after taking their exams. All the three were on their way to Ranighat Hostel on a bike. When they reached Patna College administrative block, metres away from the Vanijya Mahavidyalaya, where the LLB examinations were going on, they were intercepted by six youths on two bikes,” said Guddu Neta, a friend of Sumant.

The six youths brandished pistols and opened fire.

“The shots fortunately missed Sumant and his friends. The trio fell off the bike. The criminals jumped on Sumant and started beating him up. He was their prime target. The other two fled. The criminals assaulted Babloo with sticks and rods. By that time, we were out of our classroom and learnt about the incident. We ran towards Sumant to save him. Seeing us approaching, the criminals again opened fire and we were forced to retreat. After this, the youths sped away,” added Guddu.

The members of the students’ wing of the RJD said they would close down the university from Saturday if the police did not arrest the criminals. “The college and the university will remain closed. The police should immediately arrest those involved in the incident. The ongoing exams will also remain stalled until the arrests are made,” said Suraj Yadav, a member of the RJD students’ wing.

Patna Law College principal Rakesh Verma has termed the incident unfortunate. He said more police personnel should be deployed at the examination centre.