The Hindu : Front Page : Engineering student shot at in college

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Sunday, Apr 22, 2007
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Engineering student shot at in college

Staff Reporter

Majlis MLA's gunman overpowers accused student; police rule out ragging angle

CLOSE SHAVE: Injured Mukarram Ali Siddiqui being wheeled into a hospital in Hyderabad on Saturday.

HYDERABAD: Fight for supremacy between student groups took an ugly turn when a junior student shot at his senior on the premises of Deccan Engineering College at Darussalam in the old city on Saturday.

Mukarram Ali Siddiqui, third year engineering student, sustained five bullet wounds in the incident — the first-ever on any college premises in Hyderabad in recent past. He is being operated upon at a corporate hospital. Doctors said his condition was critical.

Heated argument

Siddiqui came to the college to collect annual exam hall ticket around 2 p.m. when Umeedullah Khan, junior to him by one year, allegedly picked up an argument with him. After a heated argument, Khan whipped out a revolver and fired a shot in the air. Even as a scared Siddiqui began running away, five more shots were fired at him from a close range. He sustained four bullet injuries in his abdomen while one grazed past his belt.

Majlis legislators — Afsar Khan and Syed Ahmed Pasha Quadri — who were in the party office situated on the same compound rushed out as the shots rang out. They saw Khan reloading the weapon. Mr. Afsar Khan and his police gunman ran and overpowered him before calling the police. The college is situated on a vast campus which also has the MIM headquarters in Darussalam. The revolver — a .32 calibre weapon — was a licensed weapon and owned by father of the accused student.

The police dismissed reports that the shooting was a result of ragging though a case of ragging was registered against Siddiqui and seven others two months ago. Fight for supremacy is being touted as the motive behind the incident. Siddiqui and Khan were reportedly heading two groups, which have been vying against each other for one-upmanship. Claiming themselves as `dominators' and `destroyers,' both groups had even hosted websites to garner publicity and gain hold among students.

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