Bhubaneswar, May 3: Four students of BJB Autonomous College were injured after being allegedly attacked by a group of youths, including some of their college mates.
Police suspect that past rivalry over students' union polls could have triggered today's violence.
The injured students - Prateek Satpathy, Prateek Raj Panigrahi, Saishree Dibyalok Naik and Khagendra Majhi - all final-year students of commerce were rushed to Capital Hospital following the attack. They have suffered severe head injuries.
"We had our final viva voce test today. After we came out of the college, around 30 youths, including some college students, assaulted us. The attack was so sudden that we did not get time to escape from the spot. They assaulted us with wooden sticks and fled," said Prateek.
Sources said the injured students were supporters of Lagnajit Patra, the students' union president of BJB College.
"The attackers are supporters of the presidential candidate, who lost the election. They were targeting us right after they had defeated in the polls. They had also threatened us in the recent past," said a student.
Following the attack, the supporters of the injured students locked the main gate demanding immediate arrest of the culprits.
"Today's incident is not an isolated case. They have been targeting my supporters after I won the election. Though we have lodged complaints with the college authorities, they are silent. We will stage a demonstration if the culprits are not arrested within 24 hours," said Patra.
The police said they had deployed two platoons of police to avoid any untoward incidents on the campus. "We have registered a case after getting a complaint from the injured. Some of the attackers have been identified and we are trying to nab them," said deputy commissioner of police Satyabrata Bhoi.
Principal Mohammed Nawaz Hasan said stern action would be initiated against the students involved in the incident. "We have forwarded the complaint to the police and if any student is found guilty, action will be taken," said Hasan.
