17 hurt in clash over RSS event in Shimla

Bhanu P Lohumi
Tribune News Service
Shimla, March 24

As many as 17 students were injured, seven of them seriously, in a clash between ABVP and SFI activists at a ground near Potterhill, close to the Himachal Pradesh University campus, today. 

The clash took place around 6 am over holding of an RSS ‘shakha’. While ABVP activists claimed they had been holding the ‘shakha’ at the ground for the past one week, SFI members today insisted on playing cricket there, leading to a verbal duel that turned violent, said police sources.

Four activists, including Avinash Rana, Sahil, Manish and Pankaj, suffered serious injuries in the head and legs and were undergoing treatment at the Indira Gandhi Medical College. The police have booked members of both groups under Sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 323 (causing hurt), 147 (rioting), 148 (use of deadly weapon) and 149 (unlawful assembly) of the IPC and conducted raids on boys’ hostels to nab the culprits, said SP Omapati Jamwal.  Police personnel had been deployed in the area to maintain law and order.

While ABVP district president Gaurav Attri alleged SFI activists attacked them with sharp-edged weapons and also assaulted students in the hostel, SFI leaders claimed their members were attacked when they insisted on playing cricket. 

HPU Vice-Chancellor Prof Sikendar Kumar said police had been asked to conduct raids and ensure no outsiders took shelter in hostels. Strict action would be taken against those responsible, he said.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said nobody would be allowed to take law into their own hands.