The boutique ransacked by students at Saheed Nagar in Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 17: An incident of Utkal University students allegedly resorting to violence rocked the city last night.

Last night, a few students of the university ransacked a boutique in Saheed Nagar area alleging that the shop owner had misbehaved with one of their professors, who had come to the shop for mending his wife’s sari. However, the police said no case had been registered as both the sides were trying to amicably settle the matter.

Shopkeeper Subash Chandra Sahoo alleged that around nine students came to his shop around 9.30pm and confronted him as to why he had misbehaved with their professor. They then broke the glass partition of the shop and threatened him.

“When the students asked me about the misbehaviour, I was shocked. I told them that I had said nothing to their professor. The students then called up the teacher and in front of him, they ransacked the shop,” Sahoo said. Later, he lodged a complaint with the Saheed Nagar police.

Sahoo said the professor had come to his shop on Monday morning when the shop was over crowded. “He told me to deliver his wife’s sari to him in the car. The professor had said that he was going to see-off his wife at the airport. As there were other customers, I could not attend to him and he left. But, on Tuesday night, the students came and attacked my shop,” said Sahoo.

The police said on getting information about the incident, a police control room van was sent to the spot. Inspector in-charge Alok Jena said the students were called after Sahoo had lodged the complaint.

He said the professor had visited the shop the previous day and the shopkeeper did not attend to him properly. He told the students about the incident and they went to have a talk with the shopkeeper. “On investigation, I found that the students were trying to shutdown the shop. But unfortunately, the glass wall was broken,” said the police officer.

“As the students were planning to lodge a complaint against the shopkeeper, we called both the sides to the police station,” he said. Sources said both the parties worked till till late night to reach a compromise.

“The students were ready to compensate for the loss caused to the shopkeeper, following which they would settle the matter,” sources said.