Wednesday's incident on the premises of Patna College, in which a student was shot at, has exposed the university and city police's failure to check illegal boarding at Patna University hostels.

Even though Minto and Jackson hostels of the college are undergoing renovation and rooms have not been allocated to anyone, several students are living there. Those who got injured in Wednesday's violence, too, happen to be unauthorised occupants.

Unidentified men from Saidpur hostel had entered the Patna College campus on Wednesday and shot at Neeraj Kumar, injuring him seriously. Neeraj, a sophomore, is a student leader associated with Madhepura MP Pappu Yadav's Jan Adhikar Party (Loktantrik). Raja Kumar, a second-year history student, also suffered serious head injuries in Wednesday's violence. Both students are undergoing treatment at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH).

Patna College sources said Neeraj was living in Jackson hostel. "Everyone knows that Minto and Jackson hostels are undergoing renovation for over a year, but some students are living there illegally," said a senior teacher at the college on condition of anonymity. "We have on several occasions asked the police administration to evacuate illegal boarders who create trouble for the college and university administration, but to no avail."

The university washed its hands of the issue. Officials said they had no mechanism to check illegal boarders. "A year ago, Patna University had handed over the two hostels to Bihar State Educational Infrastructure Development Corporation (BSEIDC) for renovation work," Patna University registrar Sanjay Kumar Sinha said. "It is very difficult to find out who is living illegally there when renovation work is on." He also said that it is the duty of the police to keep a tab on illegal boarders at hostels.

The BSEIDC started renovation work on the two hostels at Rs 2 crore each last year and was expected to complete it by June but work got delayed because of irregular supply of sand.

But the police blamed the university and college administration. "The police cannot evict illegal boarders without the university and college administration's cooperation," Pirbahore police station house officer Nisar Ahmed said. "If the college is so serious about removing illegal boarders, then why don't they cut supply of water and electricity to the illegal boarders." The officer also said raids were on at Saidpur, Jackson and Minto Hostels to nab students who were behind Wednesday's violence.

Students suffer the most. "There have been regular group clashes and anti-academic activity on the Patna College and university campus regularly, but neither the college administration nor police are able to check them," said a final year economics student at Patna College. He said the college, established in 1863, was considered a prestigious institution for the entire state, but its condition has failed on all fronts in the past three years. He said boarders of Minto and Jackson hostels used to end up in the civil services in the past, but now their progress is hardly noteworthy.

Chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh, former additional director-general of police Rajyavardhan Sharma, JDU Rajya Sabha MP and former bureaucrat RCP Singh had all lived and studied at the Patna College hostels.