Guwahati, Aug. 12: At least three students of Cotton College and two mediapersons were injured in a clash between boarders of the college and drivers of app cabs Uber and Ola near the campus last night.
More than 30 Uber and Ola vehicles were damaged by Cottonians, while a few windowpanes of a hostel of Cotton College were smashed as a result of stone pelting, reportedly by the drivers.
A police official who was on the spot said the incident took place when boarders of Cotton College got involved in a fight between a few auto-rickshaw drivers and Uber/Ola drivers.
“The auto drivers knew some students of the college and called them up for help. When the students came out, they got involved in a clash with the cab drivers,” he said.
Students of the college were seen smashing these app cabs, using sticks.
An increasing demand for Uber has shrunk the market of auto-rickshaws, leading to antagonism between the two.
Around 7pm, the commissioner of city police, Mukesh Agarwala, told The Telegraph that the cause of the class was still unclear.
A Veerangana (member of an Assam police women’s commando team) later told reporters that the college students used stones, bricks and sticks and that her clothes were torn in the incident.
The general secretary of Cotton College Students’ Society, Amlanjyoti Deuri, told The Telegraph that around 11pm, a few boarders had gone to the Guwahati railway station, around 200 metres from the hostel, for tea.
“They were witness to the quarrel between the drivers a few metres from the college’s MNDP Hostel. They requested them to stop fighting. But the Uber/Ola drivers attacked our students,” said Deuri.
The principal of the college, Nirada Devi, said they had formed a committee to investigate the matter and called a guardians’ meet tomorrow. “We will take action against the guilty students,” she said.
“We have a rule that hostel boarders cannot go out of hostel after 9pm. Some students broke this rule. Those students shall be punished. Besides, I have been informed that the drivers threw stones at the hostel and angered our students,” said Devi.
Most of the boys’ hostels of Cotton College do not have a boundary wall or gate. Students going out of hostels to the railway station to drink tea at midnight is apparently considered “normal”.
The Uber and Ola drivers gathered near the hostel today to stage a demonstration.
Assistant commissioner of police Ripunjoy Kakoty persuaded them to vacate the place. Around 2pm they gathered in front of the administrative building of the college and protested against the “vandalism” by the students.
“Initially the drivers organised a sit-in outside the college gate. Later, they broke the gate and entered the college premises and shouted slogans like Cottonian murdabad. They also threw stones at the college building, damaging a signboard and mildly injuring a student,” said Deuri.
Education minister Himanta Biswa Sarmatold reporters around noon that he had heard of the incident but was not aware of the details.
“As soon as I heard of it, I sought a report from the college principal. I will listen to both the parties and accordingly action will be taken,” he said.
