BENGALURU: A birthday party held by a few postgraduate students in a hostel on Bangalore University’s Jnanabharati campus turned ugly on Friday night, leaving a few injured. An FIR was registered by the Jnana Bharati police and eight PG students were detained.
According to a senior police officer, a group of students was celebrating a birthday party at the Boys Hostel II around 12.15 am when another group of students, who were allegedly staying on campus despite completing their courses arrived there and told them to not disturb them.
The verbal exchanges escalated to clashes with sharp weapons, the officer said. The security staff alerted the university registrar who visited the hostel and tried to resolve the issue. However, the group celebrating the birthday sought police action against the “overstaying students”. Both groups filed complaints at Jnana Bharathi police station.
Raviteja, one of the injured students, said the group of overstaying students barged into his room and assaulted him and his friends. Marappa, who was also part of the celebrations, alleged that the group shouted at them while they were cutting the cake. “We have asked BU officials to look into the matter of overstaying students and take action,” he said.
Meanwhile, vice-chancellor K R Venugopal reportedly visited the campus on Saturday afternoon and warned the students of strict action if they created such a situation again. He said, “Police have been deployed around the hostel. We have also changed the boys’ wards and told them that strict action will be initiated against them if they allow any overstaying students in their rooms.”
The university’s hostels have become a haven for people who illegally occupy the rooms. CCTV cameras and bio-metric attendance system at postgraduate and PhD hostels on the campus have had little effect, sources said. There are seven hostel blocks on the campus and most of them are crowded with students who stay there, despite finishing their course, the sources said.
According to university officials, such students threaten freshers and continue to stay in the hostels.
“This has been a problem for several years. We do monitor the hostels regularly, but students find a way to hoodwink officials,” said the V-C.