Policeman dies in Kerala college clash

Thiruvananthapuram: Campus violence returned to haunt colleges in Kerala yesterday after a clash between rival student organisations on the premises of the NSS College in Changanacherry led to the death of an assistant sub-inspector of police.

The deceased, identified as A.S. Elias (47), a native of nearby Vakathanam, was apparently felled by a fatal blow to the head as a police team tried to break the clashing groups.

Activists of the Students Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), were blamed for the skirmish.

Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said Inspector General of Police Vincent Paul had been directed to inquire into the incident which took place after a police team had been sent to "pacify" students.

Things reportedly took a turn for the worse last morning after supporters of both groups came armed with sticks and metal rods, anticipating violence from their rivals. Chains, rods and sticks were recovered from the campus. At least four persons had been detained, all of whom were learnt to be from the ABVP camp.

Mark of protest

According to reports, a tense situation had been prevailing on the campus after recent elections to the college union.

The Left Democratic Front and the BJP had called for a shutdown in Kottayam district today while the opposition United Democratic Front has decided to observe a shutdown in Changanacherry.