SAMBALPUR: At least 10 students of Gangadhar Meher University (GMU) here were injured following a clash between two groups of students over the distribution of volunteer passes for the Sambalpuri Din celebration on Tuesday. According to reports, while a city-based organisation had conducted a major event for the Sambalpuri Day celebration, the organisation had requested some student volunteers from the varsity and had sent passes for them.
However, during the distribution of passes by some teachers, a group of students reportedly belonging to Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) managed to get the passes first and later the group allegedly started mocking another group of students associated with Biju Chhatra Janata Dal (BCJD) for not having passes. Subsequently, a brawl broke out between the two groups and later non-students also joined the fight with many reportedly sustaining injuries.
On being informed by varsity authorities, police rushed to the spot to control the situation. Though most of the students involved in the brawl fled the spot, police detained some of them in connection with the incident. The injured students were also rushed to District Headquarters Hospital for medical attention. Town PS, IIC, Prakash Karna said, “We have detained two persons at present, who were involved in the scuffle. We are investigating to find out about other persons involved in the incident.”