The Ispat Autonomous College premises here turned into a war field on Tuesday and 12 students were arrested after a scuffle between two groups of students over selection of chief guest for college annual function.
Source said the dispute had arisen on Saturday while one group led by College Students’ Union president Jyotiranjan Guru wanted to invite Sundargarh Congress MP Hemananda Biswal as chief guest, but the proposal was opposed by another group consisting of BJD supporters, who insisted on inviting Transport Minister Subrat Tarai, who belongs to Sundargarh district.
In the process, some senior students beat junior students. As the next day was a Sunday, on Monday both the groups had come with a mindset to give a befitting reply to the other group.
The police rushed to the spot and arrested 12 students from both groups including the College Union president and forwarded them to court under Section 143, 294,149,323 and 506 of IPC. Police forces are now deployed in the campus to avoid further untoward incidents.