A video of a clash between a bunch of Kashmiri and Bihari students of Khalsa College of Engineering and Technology at Amritsar went viral on social media on Saturday, leading to tension within the campus.
Police officials say the tussel had been going on for some time since Wednesday when apparently a verbal argument flared between the students hailing from the state of Bihar and Kashmir. The argument was said to be violent and resulted in some minor injuries to several pupils. The controversy grew even more chaotic when the students were seen raising slogans outside hostel premises which was in full view of the human eyes by watching the videos circulating all over the internet.
The video is believed to have been captured by the Kashmiri students and shared on social media platforms, with Mehraj Malik, of Jammu and Kashmir, being one of them.
Police officials said the initial clash had been quelled, but had been reignited after some Biharis students accused a faculty member of slapping one of them. The reworded accusations resulted in another fight at school and once more calls from the police.
The docket was resolved at the student level initially and the matter is now being dealt with by the college management, primarily the complaints raised against some of the faculty members at the college, said Ranjit Avenue police station SHO Robin Hans, adding there could be some more complaints from the students in the future.
Three pupils were said to have sustained minor injuries in the riots and were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment. In the aftermath of the incident, a team of police officers has been assigned to the school to manage the situation and keep peace.
Colleges authorities have beefed up their security and urged students to uphold peace as investigations proceed. Records have also been examined of the minutes of officials meeting with both student groups to establish the facts and sequence of events from the viral videos and the statements made by the student groups, officials say.