Bhubaneswar, Sept. 17: Eleven youths, including five engineering students, were today sent to jail for their alleged involvement in ransacking Saheed Nagar market following a group clash between the youths of Saheed Nagar and Rasulgarh.

The incident took place on September 14. The youths were arrested by Saheed Nagar police yesterday. Out of the 11 arrested, eight belonged to Rasulgarh area whereas three were from Saheed Nagar. The police said both the sides lodged two complaints.

The police said one Deepak Sahu of Saheed Nagar lodged a complaint against the youths of Rasulgarh. “We registered a case under sections 147, 148, 323, 324, 341, 506, 427, 294 and 149 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the youths were booked under these sections for rioting, causing injuries, attempt to murder and criminal intimidation,” said a senior police officer.

The arrested youths were identified as Swagat Mohanty, Nikhil Routray, Rohit Champati, Itish Pradhan, Trinath Das, Samsundar Mohanty, Bikash Patra and Rajesh Samant. All of them are from Rasulgarh. While two youths are studying engineering, two other have recently completed their course.

Similarly, on Swagat Mohanty’s complaint, three youths from Saheed Nagar area were arrested. They were identified as Ashis Panda, Suman Pradhan and Biplab. The police booked them under various sections of the IPC.

“The youths were forwarded to court today,” said the police officer. Later, they were sent to Jharapada jail after a local court rejected their bail plea.

The police said passing lewd remarks to one another was the main reason behind the group clash. The clash took ugly turn on Wednesday evening, when more than 50 youths from Rasulgarh, armed with sharp weapons and hockey sticks, ransacked the Saheed Nagar market breaking several cars and motorcycles parked on roadside.

They did not even spare the business establishments and those who opposed them.

All of them usually gather in front of the Ramadevi women’s college. Recently, they had an argument over passing of lewd remarks from rival groups following which they had clashed on Tuesday night. Two complaints were lodged in this regard. However, the police inaction made the matter worse as the youths from Rasulgarh ransacked the Saheed Nagar market on the very next day.

The police said they were searching for others who had been involved in the crime. “We hope to arrest them soon,” said a police officer.