Panjab University seeks FIR into violent scuffle at Gate Number 2

A video of the incident, making rounds of social media, shows a former student thrashing two youths with a stick, and his accomplices raining blows and kicks on them

Still reeling from a student’s shocking murder during a March concert, Panjab University (PU) has sought an FIR into a violent brawl between two groups at the campus’s Gate Number 2 on Sunday night.

The brawl unfolded in the presence at least two security guards, raising concerns about their effectiveness. (HT)

A video of the incident, making rounds of social media, shows a former student thrashing two youths with a stick, and his accomplices raining blows and kicks on them.

The brawl unfolded in the presence at least two PU security guards, raising concerns about their effectiveness.

The guards eventually alerted the PCR and a vehicle arrived after 10 minutes to take the accused to the Sector 25 police post.

The main accused, who was also seen wielding a baseball bat, is reportedly a 2024 passout of University Institute of Applied Management Sciences (UIAMS).

One of the accused also picked up a baton used by the security guards, which was lying at the gate, to attack the victims.

As per varsity officials, a group of current and former UIAMS students got into a fight around 11.50 pm at Gate Number 2 on Sunday. But the cause behind the scuffle remains unclear.

While the two parties had agreed on a compromise and neither side submitted a complaint, PU has taken suo-motu cognisance of the incident and submitted a complaint to the police to register an FIR.

Confirming this, PU chief of university (CUS) security Vikram Singh said they had written to the police to take legal action against the accused for disturbing the campus peace and security.

Meanwhile, PU has also initiated an inquiry against the two guards stationed at the gate for allegedly not doing enough to break up the fight.

Faculty in-charge for PU security, Dinesh Kumar of department of laws, said an inquiry will be conducted into this and the guards will be allowed to give their point of view.

The CUS further shared that in the wake of the brawl, a security in-charge will be appointed for every gate to better manage such incidents.

To bolster the security of the campus, PU is already in the process of recruiting ex-servicemen for the posts of 50 new security guards and four security officers by June-end.

While scuffles are not uncommon at the varsity, this is the first time that PU has approached the police to register an FIR since November last year, when students protesting the delayed senate polls had clashed with police on the campus while Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann was present on the campus.

Meanwhile, student parties have condemned the Sunday incident. In a message, the Students Organisation of India also highlighted inaction on the part of the security guards who were on duty at the time of the incident.