KOCHI: Five students and two employees of Cusat sustained injuries after a clash occurred between SFI and KSU workers at the School of Engineering, Cusat, on Tuesday. According to the students, eight students who arrived at the office of the Principal to give statements before an inquiry commission carrying out a probe into a clash related to the Sargam arts festival held on the campus were targeted.
KSU alleged that students were attacked inside the office of the Principal for the first time in the university’s history. The incident occurred around 11 am when around 30 students wearing helmets and armed with sticks and cycle chains barged into the Principal’s office and unleashed an attack on the students waiting there.
The gang climbed over the back gate and barged into the office, then threatened the staff and students. While Siji Hajira, an office attendant, tried to lock the grill, she was hit, and her arm was twisted and turned. Four students who sustained injuries on the head were taken to Kalamassery Medical College.
Later, KSU workers laid a siege protest in front of the administrative office, demanding the suspension of the SFI workers involved in the attack. According to the authorities, five students have been suspended, while the results of two have been withheld. KSU alleged that outsiders were involved in the attack, and the SFI workers inside the campus assisted them.
Students alleged the university authorities also extended assistance to the SFI activists. The authorities are now claiming that the CCTV cameras are dysfunctional and the visuals of the incident are not available.
“The campus and the office are equipped with CCTV cameras, and now they are saying the cameras in the Principal’s office are no functioning. Besides, no security staff had been deployed in the office while the evidence gathering was conducted. This was purported to help the SFI workers,” said a KSU worker.