In a shocking incident, a student from the renowned Banaras Hindu University (BHU) was shot dead inside the campus on April 2, 2019. Gaurav Singh, who was pursuing a Masters in Computer Administration from the college was taken to All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries and was declared dead on April 3rd morning.
#UPDATE Varanasi: Police has detained four BHU students in connection with the incident, police crime branch to question them. https://t.co/uwR01tSr9m
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) April 3, 2019
Gaurav was reportedly suspended from the university last year after the protests on the campus in 2017 took a violent turn, reported Scroll.in. The protest in 2017 erupted after a woman student was molested on the campus. Singh was particularly suspended from the campus for his purported role in burning down a bus during the demonstration in 2017. Numerous students including Singh were injured in a baton charge by policemen during the protest.
The Varanasi Cantonment Circle Officer Anil Kumar Singh on April 3 said that the reason for the murder might be personal enmity. He further said that the probe is underway and they have already arrested four people involved in the matter. “We have arrested four people in this matter”, he told the ANI. Based on the FIR filed by the boy’s father who also works within the campus, the police have arrested four students. The first woman chief proctor of Banaras Hindu University was also named in the FIR.
The PTI reported that Gaurav Singh was shot while he was talking to friends just outside his hostel at 6:30 in the evening. The miscreants arrived on a motorbike, shot Singh and fled away from the crime scene. While Singh was being treated in the hospital, his friends got involved in a fight with university and security personnel, reported India Today. The university students were engaged in a fight against the security personnel outside the hospital, thus escalating the tension in the campus. The campus is shut today. Heavy numbers of police personnel are posted inside the university to avoid any mishap, reported NDTV.
The Logical Indian Take
This is not the first incident when a student has been killed inside the university campus. Let it be last year’s Allahabad University incident where a student was shot by an ex-student inside a classroom or the horrific event in Haryana where a student was stabbed to death by an assailant group inside the campus of Rohtak College. All these incident bring out one question are the students safe enough when they are on the college campus? The administration has to be stringent and keep an eye on people passing the gates. The above incident also highlights the lack of law and order inside the university campus.
