CHENNAI: Three persons, including two former college students were injured when a group of students from Pachaiyappa’s College of Arts and Science, carrying deadly weapons, stormed into an MTC bus at Egmore on Thursday morning and launched an attack on their campus ‘rivals’.
The armed group waiting at the Egmore bus stand entered the bus bound for Koyambedu from Paris (route No 15B), targeted Suresh, a second year BA stundent, and Devaraj and Karthick, both former students.
Before the driver and conductor could react to the sudden onslaught, they threw stones on the bus, smashing the front windscreen and some side glass panels and fled the scene. Panic-stricken passengers ran for their lives as some of the assailants had entered the bus through the side windows. The injured persons - Suresh from Tiruvottiyur and Devaraj and Karthik from Washermenpet - were taken to the Kilpauk Medical College hospital by the police who rushed to the spot on hearing about the incident. But they refused to file a complaint with the police, saying that they cannot identify the assailants. But police found a knife inside a bag that was with the injured youth.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the attack was a fallout of a verbal fight that two groups of students had inside the college ground recently. The college principal had requested the police at a meeting with college principals at the Commissioner’s office recently to help them clear the campus of outsiders, who were using the college ground for anti-social activities.
However, when Express contacted the college authorities in connection with the incident, they said that they cannot comment on that as the incident has happened outside the campus. They said that anti-social activities inside the campus have come down and the college was peaceful.
A senior police officer said that it was common for students from Pachaiyappa’s College, Nandanam Arts College and Presidency College to fight over petty issues. Based on the complaint from the bus conductor, the police have registered a public property damage case and are investigating.