THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The capital city resembled a battleground on Friday as activists of the Students' Federation of India (SFI) went on a rampage on its roads. The agitating students and the police, who tried to disperse them, together scripted one of the most vicious duels that the capital city had witnessed in recent times.The clash started when the students started pelting stones at the police, when the latter tried to block the former's protest march to the State Legislature Complex at PMG in protest against the State Government's policies in the self-financing colleges sector. The violent clash that continued for over two hours literally held the city to ransom as the traffic along the arterial MG Road was thrown out of gear.According to sources, the march, in which hundreds of students took part, started around 12 noon from the University College here. But it was blocked by the police near the Legislature Complex, when the students started pelting stones at them. The police retaliated with a lathi-charge. But that was not enough to reduce the vigour of the SFI activists. They continued to pelt stones at the police. Thanks to the never-ending road works, the students had no dearth of stones to use as weapons against the law enforcers.Some of the students sought shelter behind the walls of University College and continued the stone-pelting from within. The police, who too had no intention to fall back, brought in water cannons and even tear gas shells to the scene, in which a number of students were injured.Besides the students, several police personnel and pedestrians also were injured in the clash. They were taken to various city hospitals and provided treatment. The list of injured policemen included Deputy Commissioner of Police Jolly Cherian, Cantonment Circle Inspector Anil Kumar, Sub-Inspector Asokan, Additional Sub-Inspector Thulasi and Civil Police Officers Surendran, Dhaneesh, Manoj Kumar and Arun. However, the police said that their injuries were not serious and they left the hospital after getting first aid. As many as four students, Ansari, 27, Arun, 20, Vineeth, 27, and Ajesh, 21, who were seriously injured in the clash, were admitted to the Medical College Hospital here.A few vehicles that were parked along the roads were damaged during the agitation. A police van also was destroyed.The City Police have registered a case against SFI activists in connection with the untoward incidents. Meanwhile, senior CPM leaders, including Pinarayi Vijayan, V Sivankutty, M A Baby, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and Kadakampally Surendran visited the injured students who were admitted to the Medical College Hospital. They all condemned the police action, terming it as pre-planned.
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