Student Killed as Violent Clashes Erupt Over Freshers' Day Posters in Ernakulam's Maharaja's College

Thiruvananthapuram: A Maharaja's College student was allegedly stabbed to death and two injured after a scuffle broke out between two groups in college premises in Ernakulam on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday. The condition of one of the injured students is said to be serious.

Twenty-year-old Abhimanyu, who was also a member of Student Federation of India (SFI), was stabbed in the stomach around 1 am when workers of the CPI(M)'s student wing clashed with Campus Front of India members over posters being put up inside college premises for Freshers’ Day, which was to be held on Monday.

The body has been kept at the Ernakulam General Hospital's mortuary. Another student, Arjun, has been admitted to a hospital after sustaining grievous injuries.

According to police, four members of PFI and the Campus Front have been detained in connection with the incident. Of four, three are not students of the college. Officers suspect that a group was called from outside the campus.

“At least 15 people were part of the gang, of which only one was a college student. Others were outsiders and were allegedly workers of Popular Front of India (PFI) and Campus Front,” a police officer said, adding that they have identified more suspects.

Student Federation of India, which dominates the politics of Maharaja’s College, has called for a state wide education bandh to protest the incident.

CPI(M) state secretariat member and former Rajya Sabha MP P Rajeev condemned the attack on the SFI workers and described it as a "planned" one carried out by forces with "extremist nature."

"We have not heard about such a heinous attack on student activists in recent times. All the progressive forces should come forward to fight against such outfits with extremist nature," said Rajeev, a former state leader of the SFI from Ernakulam district.