Five Bangladeshi students at the National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Silchar, Assam of India were suspended after allegedly leading an attack on another section of Bangladeshi students.
The incident occurred around 1:30am on 8 September.
The five have been suspended for one academic year and will be sent back to Bangladesh, NIT Director Dilip Kumar Baidya said.
"We have enough evidence to establish that they were actively involved in campus violence and have been suspended for two semesters," the director also added.
Why the violence
According to university authorities, the argument stemmed from a discussion on politics.
Tensions eventually flared leading to scuffles.
Dean of Students' Welfare S S Dhar also said narcotics were recovered from the rooms of the accused, which was taken into account while deciding disciplinary action.
The situation became more complicated when other students intervened.
What university director said
Speaking to DW, NIT Director Dilip Kumar Baidya said the suspended students had been studying in the country with financial assistance under the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) scholarship.
"There were many complaints against them in the past. Especially after the political changes in their country, many of them have quarreled among themselves here. Some say they are supporters of the current Bangladeshi government, while others say they have good relations with the previous government."
He said on 8 September, the arguments boiled over.
"They chased each other with weapons in their hands and beat them up for quite some time. We have got sufficient evidence of this incident. After the investigation, they have been suspended for two semesters as a disciplinary measure as per the rules of the institution. It has also been decided to expel them from the hostel."
In a copy of a complaint filed with the Dean Office, obtained by Stream, it was alleged that a group had beaten another with a whiteboard, iron chairs, bed stands, broken glass, rods and other objects.
What the complaint says
In the copy of the complaint, filed by one of the victims, it is alleged that, "On that night [9 September], several fourth-year seniors and our batchmates from the third-year physically attacked us. We narrowly escaped death. That night, the seniors called us to the roof, but we refused to go, which fuelled the anger. Later, they incited our batchmates against us for not responding to their calls."
Later, the victims were verbally abused and assaulted.
"When we protested, they attacked us. Then we defend ourselves. At that time, no one was injured. Afterwards, we returned to our rooms."
When they tried to resolve the issue, "Our batchmates brought fourth-year seniors into our room. Suddenly, they turned off the lights. Afterwards, they began assaulting us with iron pipes and bed stands."
The victim also alleged that phones were checked while the assault continued.
Eye witnesses also said five of the main attackers seemed to be in a state of intoxication.
The nationalities of all the attackers or victims involved could not be immediately verified, but eye witnesses said they were mostly Bangladeshis.
Stream has sent an email to Bangladesh's Assistant High Commissioner in Guwahati, Zikrul Hasan Fahad in this regard.
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