The windowpanes of a college bus were damaged and traffic on the Salem-Chennai National Highways remained hit for nearly 5 hours on Thursday when the students of a private Polytechnic College at Sarvai, near Talavasal, demanding compensation to the families of four students who got killed in a road accident last week, indulged in violence.

The police used force to disperse them to restore traffic. In the melee, a few students suffered minor injuries. About 500 students boycotting their classes on Thursday spilled on to the highways in front of their college, accusing the management of retaining them daily in class rooms even after dusk. This, they claimed, had resulted in the death of four of their colleagues as they had to travel on the footboard of an overcrowded private bus to reach their homes in time.

The police held talks with them but in vain. They later turned violent throwing stones at college buses, which had led to the lathi-charge. Heavy police pickets have been posted on the college premises and no case has been registered so far.

Source: THE HINDU