Student knifed over bus route rivalry

CHENNAI: ‘Bus route’ rivalry prevailing among students in the city took an ugly turn on Wednesday, when a youth was chased and knifed in broad daylight following a clash between two groups from a city college, on Anna Salai.Three students of Government Arts College in Nandanam were arrested in connection with the incident. “It was a confrontation between two groups of the college travelling on the Thiruvottiyur and Saidapet MTC bus routes”, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Adyar) R Sudhakar told Express. Explaining how such clashes generally occur, the DCP said, “A verbal altercation generally begins when one gang throws its weight around and questions the rival gang members about their bus route, where they live and so on.”On Wednesday, trouble started near the college campus around noon, when a group of about 20-30 students, who travel on the Thiruvottiyur route, decided “to teach the Saidapet route gang a lesson”, who always seemed to have an “upper hand over them.” Verbal exchanges which followed, soon snowballed into a clash, as some students of the Thiruvottiyur gang whisked out their knives and started chasing their rivals. All, except K Arun Kumar, a second-year BA student and resident of Palavakkam, managed to escape.An eye-witness, Khuddus Basha (21), who works as electrician for a car service company in the area, told Express that four students - two armed with knives - pursued Arun Kumar, who crossed the road near YMCA grounds and ran into a narrow lane. “However, it was a dead-end,” Basha, a resident of Ice House, said.The pursuers then fell over the youth, with one of them stabbing him on the head and hands with the knife and the rest raining blows on him.“The quartet then boarded a bus and escaped,” said Basha. “The boy’s left thumb was bleeding profusely. I called 108 ambulance and informed the police,” he added.Arun Kumar was rushed to the Government General Hospital, even as senior police officials, including DCP Sudhakar, arrived on the scene. Within 10 minutes, the fleeing student assailants were in the police net.The DCP identified the arrested students as Gopinath (II year, B Com) Selvaraj, 21, (Final year, BA History) and Manikandan, 19, (II year, BA Economics). However, the main accused -- described by the eye-witness as short and wearing a green T-shirt -- who attacked Arun Kumar with a knife, was still at large, he said. In their confessional statements, the trio reportedly claimed that their motive was to put their rivals in place. They were charged under different sections and produced before a Saidapet court, which remanded them to judicial custody.   According to the police, ‘Route groupism’ often creates tense situations in government colleges in the city, resulting in violent clashes between the students. The students are organised on MTC bus route lines and even college elections are held on the basis of route affiliations.