A brawl broke out between two groups of medical students at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi on Sunday morning over alleged ragging of some undergraduate students and loud celebrations that did not go down well with some Postgraduate students, sources said.
Policemen from the Bariatu Police Station had to rush to the RIMS hostel and pacify the two groups of students and prevent the situation from snowballing into a major unrest. “A police patrolling vehicle was in the RIMS campus when the brawl started. We were quick to send our men to the RIMS hostel and bring the situation under control,” said Pankaj Pramanik, a cop at Bariatu Police Station. “Representatives of both the groups have held talks in our presence, and the situation was under control by afternoon,” added Pramanik.
According to sources at RIMS, the brawl started between students of hostel number two-three and students of hostel number four. The junior students recently appeared for their supplementary papers and were on a celebration spree at the hostel, while the seniors were preparing for PG NEET, which is scheduled to be held on September 11, sources said.
However, it was not clear as to what exactly caused the clash between students. Representatives of Junior Doctors’ Association also visited the hostel later in the day to ensure peace and harmony among medical students.
“Their (seniors) condescending behavior towards us was uncalled-for. They should have apologized for their behavior,” said a 2019 batch student, requesting not to be named.
Police sources said that initially the two groups clashed when final year students allegedly tried to school their juniors after getting disturbed by their loud celebrations and banters. Later, a group of junior students demanded a formal apology from their seniors for allegedly harassing them, police said.
Even though the situation was under control by afternoon, police personnel were deployed at the hostel to prevent any face-off between the two groups, police said. Local police also made regular announcements on loudspeakers, requesting the students to maintain peace.
This, however, is not the first time that junior and senior students have clashed at the premiere medical college. Even in 2019, a group of junior and senior MBBS students had reportedly clashed over a beer party organised by the juniors at the hostel.