Student elections in MP turn ugly, professor killed in attack

Bhopal, Aug 26 (UNI) Student elections in Madhya Pradesh colleges today took an ugly turn when a professor was killed and another seriously injured after students attacked them over postponement of students union elections at a college in Ujjain district.

Meanwhile, student elections, which were scheduled in several colleges in the day, were postponed following clashes between two groups in Ujjain, Indore, Gwalior and other districts.

Minister of State for Higher Education Tukojirao expressed grief over the demise of Government Madhav College's Political Science department Professor Harbhajan Singh Sabharwal, who was attacked by the students when the 55-year-old professor was leaving the college gate.

He held Congress-backed people responsible for the incident, saying some people, who were not students, had gathered in the college. These elements resulted in violence inside the campus.

He said the state government had not pressurised the police to suppress the matter and issued strict directions to take strict action to arrest the guilty.

In the state capital, student elections concluded peacefully and no untoward incident was reported, District Superintendent of Police Anant Kumar Singh said.

Meanwhile, both the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the National Students Union of India (NSUI) held each other responsible for Prof Sabharwal's death.

ABVP National General Secretary Vishnudatt Sharma described the incident as tragic and held the chaos created by students owing allegiance to the NSUI responsible for the incident.

State NSUI Spokesperson Syed Jaffar held the ABVP responsible and said it had asked the administration to take appropriate steps earlier fearing violence.

He said four NSUI workers were injured during violence in student elections in Chhatarpur, Indore, Jabalpur and Chhindwara.

Meanwhile, both the ABVP and the NSUI claimed victory in student elections with the former claiming success in 90 per cent colleges and the latter in 80 colleges.

Earlier, as per a UNI report from Ujjain, another professor M L Nath was also assaulted and his face blackened by students. He was hospitalised with serious injuries, eye witnesses said.

Superintendent of Police Joydeep Prasad said students heckled Prof Sabharwal at the college gate and he fell down. He was taken to the hospital, where the doctors declared him dead. Police registered a case against unknown persons as the cause of death was not known, he said.

Police sources said ABVP workers were antagonised over postponement of the students union elections, scheduled today, allegedly at the instance of NSUI leaders.

The Congress came out openly against police for allegedly providing protection to guilty and demanded action against police personnel present during the incident.

Additional Superintendent of Police Raman Singh Sikarwar assured Congress workers that Prof Sabharwal's post-mortem would be carried by a panel of doctors and action would be taken against policemen present during the incident.

UNI AG-PS PA PC2105