DTU students thrashed, motive not clear

Seven resident students of Delhi Technological University (DTU) were admitted to hospital with fractures, cuts and abrasions late Tuesday night after they were allegedly beaten up by unidentified assailants outside the institute.
Everyone was discharged by Wednesday afternoon.

The real motive behind the violence remains unclear with the police, students and the university administration providing conflicting versions.

While students allege foul play on part of the administration and believe leaders of the ongoing agitation at the varsity were targeted deliberately, the police have tagged the incident as a drunken brawl between students and outsiders.

For the last one month, students have been agitating against the conversion of their institution from a college affiliated with Delhi University (formerly known as Delhi College of Engineering) to a state university.

Around 11.30 pm on Tuesday, three-final year hostelers — Mirza Faraz Alam, Nimish Agarwal and Ankit Mittal — were first allegedly attacked in their car (black Hyundai i10) outside the university when they were on their way back from a nearby roadside eatery.

“The smashed the windows with their bats. We were chased by these people till inside the campus and none of the guards at the gate came to our rescue. The police PCR which is always around, strangely, was no where to be seen,” said Agarwal.

The situation turned worse when other DTU students came to their rescue.

“By the time we came out, as many as 40 people had joined the assailants. They were armed with bats, chains and blades and many were wearing masks,” alleged an injured students who did not wish to be identified.
The police registered two FIRs.

“It's a drunken brawl between two groups of students and has nothing to do with the agitation. We have detained a few of the 13 students and are waiting for the rest of them to be declared medically fit before detaining them,” said Chhaya Sharma DCP (outer) Delhi.

The university approached the secretary, technical education department, Delhi government, who ordered an independent inquiry by Additional District Magistrate.

“We want the inquiry committee to submit its report in the next three days,” said DTU Registrar UK Worah.
The varsity claimed the incident was another attempt by agitating leaders to involve other students in their protest which subsequently turned ugly.