Students kill classmate over seating row

Five students of a coaching institute in Uttar Pradesh's Deoria district, about 325 km from here, allegedly crushed one of their classmates to death under their bikes following a row over seating in the class.

According to the police sources here, Ranjit Singh, a student of 12th standard, had an altercation with some other students of the coaching institute over seating in the front row.

Singh insisted on sitting in the front row, which was objected to by some other students.

On Saturday, Ranjit was waylaid while he was on way to attend the coaching class near Malobar village by five students with whom he had an altercation.

He was thrashed with sticks and rods as a result of which he lost consciousness. The attackers then allegedly ran their motor bikes over his stomach and head several times, sources said.

Ranjit was rushed to the district hospital but was declared brought dead by the doctors. His father worked at a factory in Gujarat while the mother was in Delhi for treatment, sources said.

One of the attackers was caught by the locals and handed over to the police. Four others managed to escape. A case was registered and a massive hunt had been launched to apprehend the absconding students, police said.

The manager of the coaching institute had also been absconding, police said, adding that the coaching institute did not have the permission to hold classes.