Chandigarh: Five students from Sikkim were injured at a college here after they were allegedly assaulted by another group of students from Himachal Pradesh over racist remarks, police said on Friday.
The incident had taken place on Tuesday evening at a private college in Mullanpur, on the outskirts of the city, following which police have arrested 10 people. The two sides had clashed earlier on Tuesday on the institute's premises and intervention of the authorities averted the situation from getting serious, police said. Police said that alleged racial remarks passed by students from HP first led to the clash between them on December 8.
Five students of Sikkim, identified as Sangam Rai, Avinash Lama, Amir Hang, Shring and Sudeep were admitted to Government Multi Specialty Hospital, Sector 16 with injuries of different nature, police said.
The college authorities, however, have not given any complaint to Mullanpur police, SHO Iqbal Singh said.
Police said during investigations it was learnt that a few months back, a fight had ensued between a HP and a Sikkim student inside a bus.
Thereafter, a cold war ensued between the two sides, which had been exchanging blows every now and then, they said.
As the difference between the groups increased, the HP students on Tuesday thrashed Sikkim students at Khuda Alisher village on the outskirts of the city with batons, rods, besides damaging the bus they were travelling in, police said.
DSP (central) Satish Kumar said they had arrested 10 students, Ajay Kumar, Sunny Thakur, Manu Thakur, Vishal, Anil, Rohit, Pardeep, Vijay, Sandeep and Gurjant for rioting and wrongful restraint. More arrests were likely to be made in this case, the DSP added.
Authorities in Sikkim had taken up the matter with police and college in this connection, officials said here. A case has been registered at the Sector 11 police station here in this connection.
A purported footage of the incident on social media websites is showing the students attacking each other with weapons.
Police said that a few people had videographed the incident, which they were trying to recover as evidence.
