Chhatrapur: Four students of Ganjam Autonomous College including a BJD student wing leader sustained grievous injuries after they were attacked by a group of students here Monday.
The injured were Plus III final year student Siba Dalei, Plus III 2nd year student Sunil Pradhan, Prasant Parida and BJD student wing president of Ganjam block Shantunu Biswal. Prasant and Sunil hail from Kartikagarh while Shantunu is a resident of Humma.
The injured were admitted to Ganjam government hospital. Later, they were shifted to Chhatrapur sub-divisional hospital where they have been kept in a special casualty section.
Chhatrapur MLA Priyanshu Pradhan and Ganjam district unit president of BJD’s student wing Prasant Panda visited the hospital and enquired on their health. They made special arrangements for treatment of the injured and shifted Shantunu to MKCG Medical College and Hospital.
On the other hand, hundreds of students reached Chhatrapur hospital following which tension prevailed on the premises. They staged a demonstration demanding immediate arrest of the assailants.
The incident occurred while the four along with 10 of their friends had gone to Bateswar shrine near Humma on the occasion of the second Monday of the holy Kartik month.
After visiting the shrine, they went to a beach nearby where they were confronted by the other group. An altercation ensued between them that soon escalated into a violent clash.
As many as 20 members of the group including some outsiders attacked the four with hockey sticks.
The incident triggered panic among tourists on the beach who ran helter-skelter to save their lives.
The BJD candidate had won the students’ union poll recently. The supporters of the candidate who lost the election were looking for an opportunity to attack the winner’s supporters, sources said. PNN