Deputy superintendent of police Upendra Prasad (right) tries to pacify Bihar Military Police personnel on the MIT campus in Muzaffarpur on Tuesday. Telegraph picture

The Gorkha battalion of the Bihar Military Police on Tuesday lodged an FIR against unidentified students of Muzaffarpur Institute of Technology who allegedly assaulted the security personnel on the campus on Monday night.

Three Bihar Military Police (BMP) jawans — Amit Pradhan, Pappu Kumar and Mannu Bahadur — suffered serious injuries and have been admitted to the government Sadar hospital. They were attacked around 8.30pm on Monday. The personnel did not retaliate.

The battalion was deployed on the campus of the engineering institute after some senior students allegedly ragged freshers a fortnight ago.

The FIR lodged at Barhampura police station on Tuesday morning states that around 50 students, armed with hockey sticks, iron rods and sharp-edged weapons, attacked the BMP personnel at the makeshift camp on the campus.

Muzaffarpur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Saurav Kumar said: “The unruliness of the MIT students has reached its limit. They have become a law and order problem in and outside the college. The BMP battalion was temporarily deployed on the campus to thwart the activities of the senior students and instil a sense of confidence among the freshers, who took admission last month.

“The police presence had become an eyesore for the senior students of MIT when it came to ragging the freshers. They took law in their hands and attacked the BMP personnel, unmindful of the consequences,” he added.

He reviewed the deployment of the BMP force on the campus in a meeting with deputy superintendent of police (city) Upendra Prasad and sergeant major B.K. Mishra. He decided to shift them to the police barracks.

The attack on the BMP personnel comes a few days after senior students of the college allegedly ragged freshers living in private hostels near the campus. Principal Kumar Surendra had requested the district magistrate, Anupam Kumar, and the SSP to deploy force on the campus to watch over the unruly students.

On the Monday night attack, a senior teacher in the civil engineering department said: “The force showed restraint, otherwise the situation could have gone out of control.”

District magistrate Anupam Kumar said: “The principal has been directed to control the unruly students who indulge in vandalism and ragging and attack the policemen deployed on the campus. If they fail to do so, the errant students would be arrested.”