Two Dead in Aligarh Muslim University Violence, CBI Probe Demanded

The violence left an expelled student dead while another succumbed to his injuries later in hospital.

Two persons were killed in a gun battle between rival groups on the campus of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), forcing authorities to deploy Rapid Action Force and order a “major clean-up” operation in AMU hostels.

The violence left an expelled student dead while another youth, who was injured in the clash, succumbed to injuries in hospital on Monday, AMU spokesperson Rahat Abrar said. Violence erupted on the campus Sunday midnight, following a clash between two student groups leading to the death of Mahtab, DIG (Aligarh Range) Govind Agarwal, leading the police operation, told PTI on Monday.

Agarwal said the trouble started when a resident of Mumtaz hostel was assaulted and his room set afire. The victim rushed to the Proctor’s office to file a complaint. As soon as news of the incident spread, students belonging to two rival factions gathered and a clash broke out.

Police said Mahtab was shot dead near the Proctor’s office, where the warring groups exchanged fire, set ablaze a jeep and over half-a-dozen bikes, besides torching the Proctor’s office building.

Mohd Waqif, who was critically wounded in the firing, was rushed to Delhi where he succumbed to injuries. According to AMU officials, Waqif was not a student but was seeking admission to the University and staying near the campus, preparing for the engineering entrance test.

An AMU official said tension between the rival groups, belonging to Azamgarh and Sambhal regions of Uttar Pradesh, had been simmering for quite some time now. Police said an FIR has been registered against eight persons including Mohsin Iqbal, a student of MA (Political Science) and seven others, most of whom are outsiders and former students, in connection with the violence.

Rapid Action Force (RAF) was deployed at all sensitive spots, especially in view of the entrance test for the engineering college scheduled for Monday with over 13,000 candidates appearing from AMU campus centre alone.

AMU Teachers’ Association Demands CBI Probe Into Violence

Aligarh Muslim University Teachers’ Association (AMUTA) has demanded a CBI probe into Saturday night’s campus violence.

At an emergency meeting of the Executive Committee of AMUTA, a resolution was passed stating that unauthorised occupants in different hostels of the University were acting with impunity only because they were getting “patronage from some sections of the University administration”. The resolution further states that only a CBI probe would “reveal the sponsors and financers” of this conspiracy which led to such large-scale violence. The resolution stated that the present crisis on the campus was a result of a “power struggle” within the University administration for peddling favours and obliging favourites within the campus.

Speaking to reporters, AMUTA Secretary Mustafa Zaidi said the violent outburst is a fallout of the accumulated mishandling caused by “gross violation of norms and procedures” by the University administration in recent years.