Bhubaneswar, Sept. 26: Panic gripped the students and teachers of Buxi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar (Autonomous) College here today after unidentified criminals hurled a low-intensity crude bomb on the institute's campus.

Though police are yet to ascertain the exact reason behind the incident, they suspect that it was an attempt by criminals to destabilise campus peace, which may lead to cancellation of the students' union polls scheduled on October 5.

According to witnesses, the incident took place around 2.15pm near the college's science block.

"The criminals lobbed the explosive from the other side of the institute's boundary wall. The height of the wall, however, prevented us from catching a glimpse of those involved," said a student.

College authorities said that if such tension prevailed on the campus, they would be forced to review the decision to hold the students' union polls.

"It is not possible to go ahead with the election amid such a hostile atmosphere. We will shortly convene a meeting to take stock of the situation," said a faculty member.

On the other hand, deputy commissioner of police Satyabrata Bhoi said they were trying to identify the criminals involved in today's incident. "We have deployed adequate police personnel on the campus to avoid any untoward incidents," he said.