About 100 girls of Sivanath Sastri College boycotted classes and demonstrated for hours on Tuesday morning against vandalism by students of two other colleges that share the Golpark campus.

The girls, belonging to the non-political students’ union of the morning college, also refused to pay for the damage to computers, furniture, notice boards and windowpanes, amounting to Rs 3 lakh, in a clash between two groups of students of Heramba Chandra College, one backed by the Trinamul Chhatra Parishad and the other by the SFI.

Classes of the co-educational Heramba Chandra College are held on the campus during the day. Prafulla Chandra College functions in the evening.

“Students backed by various organisations often clash, destroying college property. Those involved in the violence should be punished. The authorities should complain to the police against them,” said a second-year student of Sivanath Sastri College.

The demonstration started around 6am after students arrived at the college to find furniture and notice boards damaged. The girls shouted slogans and sat with banners on the pavement outside the main gate of the college till noon.

The teacher-in-charge of Sivanath Sastri College was not allowed to enter the campus and the principal of Heramba Chandra College was gheraoed for an hour.

Khagen Adhikari, the principal of Heramba Chandra College, said: “Properties worth lakhs were damaged in last night’s clash. We separately met the leaders of the Trinamul Chhatra Parishad and the SFI and asked them not to indulge in vandalism in future.”

College properties were destroyed in a similar clash on August 1.

The governing bodies of the three colleges will meet soon to find ways to stop such incidents. The authorities are considering seeking police help and asking students to pay fines for the damage.

“Those who indulge in violence must realise they have no right to destroy campus property. It causes problems for us though we are not involved in the clash in any way,” said a second-year student.

Dhrubojyoti Chakraborty, the secretary of the SFI Calcutta District Committee (south), said: “The clashes will stop once the college elections are held. The authorities should take adequate steps to get the injunction on college elections, issued on a petition by the Trinamul Chhatra Parishad in 2007, vacated.”

Baishanar Chattopadhyay, the state president of the Trinamul Chhatra Parishad, accused the SFI of fomenting trouble on the campus.