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MANGALORE: A day after the clash between two groups of students at Government First Grade College in Uppinangady (Puttur taluk), principal Subrahmanya K declared a holiday for the college on Friday.

Tension prevailed on the premises on Thursday morning after Ranjith, a BCom student allegedly teased a Muslim girl, also studying BCom. Following this incident, a group of Muslim students belonging to the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) rushed to the girl’s support against Ranjith, who was supported by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) students.

The altercation between members of NSUI and ABVP turned into a physical fight. During the melee, four students suffered minor injuries and some students smashed the windows. Police resorted to caning to bring the situation under control and a platoon of the reserve police was deployed near the college.

Inspector General of Police (western range) Pratap Reddy and superintendent of police Abhishek Goyal visited the spot soon after the altercation and the situation was brought under control by evening.

The girl registered a complaint against Ranjith at the Uppinangady police station and Subrahmanya K registered a complaint for the damage caused to college property. A few days ago, a similar incident occurred at the Government First Grade College in Vittla of Bantwal taluk.

Goyal said situation the Uppinangady college is peaceful now. A meeting, comprising students and faculty, police officers and officials attached to the Department of Collegiate Education (DCE) will be held in the college to prevent such incidents, he said.

Devanand R Gaonkar, joint director, DCE, said the principal has identified 18 students involved in the incident. The DCE has identified seven colleges, in Puttur, Bantwal, Sullia, Uppinangady, Bellare, Vittal and Belthangady, where such altercations have been taking place.

Devanand said to keep a tab on students, CCTV cameras will be installed soon in all seven colleges and legal awareness programmes will be organised for students to maintain peace and harmony. A coordination committee will be organised in all these colleges to prevent altercations between students.