Kerala - Kozhikode   

35 injured in attack by SFI activists

Staff Reporter

Provoked by suspension of B.Tech. students

KOZHIKODE: At least 35 persons, including a dozen police personnel, students and teachers, sustained injuries after a protest of the activists of the Students Federation of India (SFI) turned violent at the office of an education trust in the heart of the city on Tuesday.

The police said that a Sub Inspector, an Assistant Sub Inspector, a woman constable, few teachers and four girl students were injured in the incident.

The agitators went on a rampage attacking the office of the Veda Vyasa Trust and the Calicut Institute of Engineering and Technology, an industrial training unit run by the organisation, at Chalappuram in the afternoon.

Over 25 computers and peripherals and furniture attached to the office and training institute were destroyed.

Windowpanes smashed

The protestors smashed the windowpanes of the office and institute.

The extent of the damage was yet to be ascertained, the police said.

The trouble started at around 2.30 p.m. when the SFI activists barged into the office and institute breaking the makeshift police barricade.

Many of the police personnel were injured in heavy stone pelting.

With additional police personnel arriving on the scene the protestors were overpowered, arrested and removed from the office.

Charge against police

The reluctance on the part of the police to take strong action led to widespread destruction of the office and the training unit.

The Kasaba police have registered a case in connection with the incident.

What provoked the activists to go on protest was the suspension of four B.Tech students from the Veda Vyasa Institute of Technology at Ponnempadam, Karadparmba in Malappuam district.

The Veda Vyasa Trust, which has its office in the city, runs the engineering college, affiliated to Calicut University.

The students were placed under suspension on the charges of ragging freshers on the campus.

The incident occurred in January and ever since the SFI activists had been demanding revoking the suspension of the students.

But the management had not yielded to the pressure tactics of the student organisation.

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35 injured in attack by SFI activists

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