6 Arrested After Kerala University Student Stabbed on Campus

Twenty-year-old Akhil had a verbal spat with some of the SFI unit members a couple of days before he was stabbed.

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Amid all the criticism about Kerala Police not being able to nab the accused in the case related to the stabbing incident at Thiruvananthapuram’s University College, the Cantonment Police as of Monday, 15 July, has arrested six accused in the case.

The arrested have been identified as Sivaranjith, Nazeem, Adil, Aromal, Nijab and Advaith. All six are students of the University College and members of the Students Federation of India (SFI) unit.

While Ijab was nabbed from his residence near Nemom on Saturday, Adil, Aromal and Advaith were arrested from the Thiruvananthapuram Railway station on Sunday, while Sivaranjith and Nazeem were arrested on Monday morning.

The violence which erupted at the University College in Thiruvananthapuram and led to the stabbing of a third-year undergraduate student, has opened a can of worms regarding the audacious behaviour of the SFI in the campus.

An official at the Cantonment police station confirmed to TNM that the arrested persons have been booked under sections 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting with deadly weapon), 149 (offence committed in furtherance of common objective), 224(b) (resistance towards apprehension, 223 (escape from confinement of custody), 241 (counterfeit money), 506(2) (criminal intimidation) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

WHAT HAPPENED

Twenty-year-old Akhil, who was stabbed on Friday, had a verbal duel with some of the SFI unit members a couple of days before he was stabbed, when the latter had asked him to stop singing loudly in the campus. On Friday however, clashes began between two student groups, both  belonging to the SFI when the unit members tried to bully one of the students sitting under a tree to go to class. It was during this clash that Akhil was stabbed by one of the SFI activists.

Akhil, who was also an active member of the CPI(M)’s student body was rushed to the Thiruvananthapuram General Hospital, following which he was taken to the Medical College where he is currently undergoing treatment. Speaking to TNM on Saturday, Akhil’s father had confirmed that his son’s condition is improving.

(Published in an arrangement with The News Minute)