The Gujarat city police gave free passage to rioters after they attacked international students, who were offering namaz, and resorted to violence, students at the Gujarat University alleged.
According to a report by the Times of India, the students released a video of the incident that took place on Saturday night, purportedly showing people leaving the campus in the presence of PCR vans and police personnel in front of the A block of the ’S boys’ hostel in Navrangpur.
According to the publication, a student was allegedly heard commenting that the cops were allowing the rioters to go after they had attacked students over a dispute regarding offering namaz in the hostel premises on Saturday night.
Though the video went viral on Sunday, the police are still ascertaining its authenticity.
The students said that after the incident, no Tarawih (special Islamic prayer) was offered on Sunday night.
Security was beefed up at the hostel with around six to eight cops and 10 security guards were deployed at the hostel to deal with any untoward incident.
According to the publication, Navid Siddique who is a student from the Kunar province of Afghanistan, said that initially, three men got into a heated argument over offering namaz in the hostel premises. The argument turned into a scuffle following which 15 more men came into the hostel.
Siddique alleged, "A large mob barged into the hostel and attacked us with sticks, bats and rods. Two African students, one Sri Lankan, one from Turkmenistan and two students from Afghanistan including me, received injuries," as per TOI.
According to the publication, Siddique said that a student named Azat from Turkmenistan and a Sri Lankan student named Mario Fernando, of Christian faith, suffered severe injuries.
Siddique said, “Three police vans had reached there but the cops just saw the rioters leaving the place. We shouted out to the police to nab them, but they were given a clear passage.”