CHENNAI: A few incidents of Pongal celebrations at city colleges turning violent were reported in the last two days. The police have arrested an 18-year-old boy for allegedly striking another student with a beer bottle. The suspect was identified as S Santhosh from Tondiarpet, who is studying second-year BA History at Nandanam Arts and Science College.
“On Wednesday, Santhosh picked up a fight with another student over Pongal celebrations in the campus. He asked R Nagarajan (20) from Saidapet to help him get back at the student, but Nagarajan backed out in the end. Irked over this Santhosh hit Nagarajan with a beer bottle on the head during Pongal celebrations on Thursday. He was arrested and remanded in judicial custody,” the police said.
In another incident, students of Pachaiyappas and Presidency colleges created a ruckus on Poonamallee Highway and Purasawalkam respectively. On Friday morning, a few students of Pachaiyappas were not allowed to enter the college as they arrived late to campus. They gathered in large numbers outside the gate and created a ruckus. Police personnel reached the spot and dispersed them away. However, after 12 pm, the students inside the college barged out and joined others on the road. Many of them boarded the MTC 15F bus and caused a commotion. The police detained the students and let them off with a warning.
Meanwhile, some Presidency college students boarded a bus in Royapuram and later climbed on top of the bus. They began dancing on top of the bus, forcing the driver to stop the bus in the middle of the road. Later, Perambur Government Railway Police (GRP) found a few Presidency college students celebrating Pongal inside a train compartment. They were forced to alight the train and let go with a warning.