The Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) administration is mulling expulsion of the 19 first-year MBBS students accused of vandalising the institution following a shootout on the college campus last week.

The institution director, Dr Arun Kumar, told The Telegraph that the college “would take strict action against them (the 19 students) that could in- clude expulsion”.

“We have issued showcause notice to the students identified in the video footage. We will soon decide on what action will be taken against them. This kind of hooliganism cannot be tolerated,” said Kumar.

The IGIMS director also condemned the politicisation of the shootout, which allegedly instigated the medicos to create a ruckus in the outpatient department and the emergency ward of the institution with some All India Students’ Federation (AISF) activists and Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) students.

The incident had prompted indefinite closure of the medical college, granted permission by Medical Council of India (MCI) only last year to start MBBS course for 100 seats.

The vandalism was the fallout of the shootout incident on the college campus on Wednesday night. Some criminals had opened fire at two first-year students taking a stroll on the campus.

The victims, identified as Ajit Vidyarthi and Rohit Lal, survived the attack. But the incident triggered sharp reaction from the IGIMS students. They went on a rampage in the institution the next day and severely affected the patient services.

The angry students, with the AISF members and PMCH students, damaged hospital property on Thursday after calling for a strike in the medical college.

“Hospital property worth lakhs were damaged in the ruckus. It also caused inconvenience to hundreds of patients and their attendants. It was an unfortunate incident. First-year students in the college are inexperienced and were instigated by criminals from outside to go on a rampage,” said a source in the IGIMS.

The college administration on Saturday lodged FIR against the identified students under sections 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting armed with lethal weapon), 149 and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of IPC at Shastri Nagar police station.

The incident added woes to the troubled medical college facing the threat of de-recognition for the want of adequate faculty members and infrastructure required at a 100-seat medical college.

A high-level MCI team recently carried out an inspection at the institution. It reportedly expressed its dissatisfaction over college’s failure to appoint teachers. The team is expected to table its final report before the state government in a month or two.