SMIT closed down for 10 days following clash between students

"We have decided to close down the SMIT campus for 10 days and suspended all academic activities till normalcy returns.. the boys were asked to vacate the hostels and most of the students have already left for their home destinations," Reddy said.

The SMIT authorities have also started an enquiry in the matter and the report is expected to be completed in the next 10 days, Reddy said, adding that actions will be taken against those students involved in the sordid incident which has brought disrepute to the name of the university.

The injured students - Kumar Gaurav (Chhapra, Bihar), Akash Kumar Singh (Ranchi), Karmik Singh (Varanasi), Deepak Chamaria ( Tinsukia, Assam), Harpreet Singh (Ranchi) and Yajur Chaddha (New Delhi) - who were admitted to the Central Referral Hospital (CRH) may be released anytime now as their condition was much better, CRH Dean R N Salhan said.

The other injured student Snidhya Rasiwasia (Assam), who had sustained blows on his head, was still under observation, but his condition too has improved.

The Superintendent of Police (SP) of East District M S Tuli, on the other hand, said that an FIR has been registered under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the unidentified students for causing injuries to others and damage to the public properties. An investigation was underway to find out the culprits, he said.

There was a simmering tension among the two group of students for quite sometimes, Tuli said, adding the SMIT administration should have helped resolved the problems among the students to nip in the bud the prospect of an eventual violent clash on Tuesday.

The SP also sought play down the issue of locals versus outsiders in the SMIT campus and said that the incident took place between two groups of students who had had problems among them for sometime and not not on regional lines.