The Hindu : Front Page : AMU closed after murder, violence

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Tuesday, Sep 18, 2007
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AMU closed after murder, violence

Special Correspondent

PHOTO:PTI

Remains of burnt vehicles outside the AMU Vice- Chancellor’s residence after the violent protest by students on Monday.

ALIGARH / LUCKNOW: Aligarh Muslim University has been closed indefinitely following violence and arson on the campus in Aligarh on Sunday night in protest against the murder of a B.Sc. II Year student, Mazhar Naeem.

All the students staying in the university’s hostels have been ordered by the authorities to vacate the premises within two days.

The young victim belonged to Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh. He was killed by unidentified persons with a sharp-edged weapon when he was returning to the hostel after “taravih” prayers (answered during the month of Ramzan) in a local mosque around 10-45 p.m. on Sunday.

A spokesman of the State Home Department said in Lucknow on Monday that the Special Task Force of the U.P. Police has been asked to investigate the killing.

Additional police force has been deployed on the AMU campus, the spokesman added. No arrests have been made so far.

Mazhar Naeem had stopped at a restaurant, Café D’Fus, located near Aftab Hall on the campus, after finishing his prayers when he was murdered. He was hit in the head with a huge knife. He collapsed and died on the spot. He was an inmate of Mumtaz Hostel in Aftab Hall.

Students returning after the “taravih” prayers took the body to the residence of Vice-Chancellor P. K. Abdul Azis. As he was not available, the students went on the rampage. They burnt the Vice-Chancellor’s lodge, the Teachers’ Association Staff Club and the Proctor’s Office. The cause of the murder is not known but the Students’ Union reportedly has not ruled out the possibility of a conspiracy to vitiate the atmosphere in the university. Aligarh is among the sensitive towns in Uttar Pradesh.

This is the third such incident to have rocked the AMU since April this year.

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