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Two students injured in sword attack by outsiders at Kharar college
One student suffers stab wounds, another breaks leg on jumping off the first floor to save himself in the Friday night attack
A student suffered stab injuries and another broke his leg by jumping off the first floor to save himself after a group of outsiders attacked students with swords at Doaba College, Kharar, on Friday evening.
Poor security arrangements at the college were laid bare as at least 26 men entered the premises with sharp-edged weapons to attack the students over an argument during a farewell party earlier in the evening.
A day after the attack, which was captured in CCTV cameras, police managed to arrest only one accused, identified as Harmanjot Singh Billa.
Apart from the two students who suffered major injuries, Irshad Ahmad Khan and Faidar Rasool, both hailing from Kashmir, several others sustained minor wounds. The injured students are pursuing BBA, B Pharma and Medical Science Liaison degrees at the college.
According to police, a farewell party for the outgoing third-year students was underway at the college on Friday evening, when some outsiders, known to a group of students, entered the premises.
Police said the outsiders picked a fight with some students who were dancing on the stage. Moreover, a student’s heated argument with a teacher didn’t go down well with the other group of students that triggered a quarrel, but was controlled.
“Later, while some students were having dinner in the hostel mess, a group of 26 masked outsiders attacked them with swords, rods and other sharp-edged weapons. While Irshad suffered multiple stab injuries, including on the head, Faidar fractured his leg by jumping off the first floor of the canteen to save himself. Several other students suffered minor wounds in the attack, but managed to escape to safety.The assailants eventually fled the spot. It wasn’t an attack on Kashmiri students specifically,” said a police officer.
The victims were rushed to the local civil hospital, where the students with minor injuries were given first aid, and Irshad and Faidar remain under treatment.
“We were dancing at the party when boys around us started pushing us, which led to an altercation. Later, when we were having food in the mess, they brought their accomplices from outside and attacked us. I am shocked how they managed to enter the college campus with swords and other weapons,” said Irshad, who received stitches for his stab wounds.
Faidar said, “Around eight students were having dinner when they attacked us. They clearly wanted to kill us. To escape the attack, I jumped off the first floor and couldn’t walk after that. Despite screaming for help, no guard or staffer turned up for help. Our friends rescued us.”
The injured students alleged that the hostel authorities took a lot of time to arrange a vehicle to take Irshad to the hospital even though he was in a pool of blood. They demanded a police probe into how outsiders were able to enter the college premises, especially with weapons.
Bhagatveer, station house officer (SHO), Sadar Kharar police station, said police had arrested one accused, who was an outsider, and raids were being conducted to arrest all those absconding. A case for attempt to murder and rioting has been registered against 26 accused at the station.
In a similar attack on February 23, the little finger of a student was severed after over 30 outsiders attacked hostellers with sharp-edged weapons at Polytechnic College, Khuni Majra, Kharar.
Here, too, the attack had occurred after an argument between hostellers and some outsiders who had entered the college premises in the evening after the permissible hours.
The injured student had undergone surgery at PGIMER, Chandigarh, for reattachment of the severed finger.
