By IANS,
Guwahati : The Assam government Tuesday expressed serious concern over clashes breaking out in a Sikkim college between students from the state and locals in which some Assamese students were injured.
“We are taking the matter very seriously and are in constant touch with the Sikkim government to ensure that students from Assam studying at the Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology are safe,” Assam government spokesperson and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told IANS.
The minister is going to the Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology, situated on the outskirts of Sikkim capital Gangtok, Wednesday to take stock of the situation.
According to information, scores of students, mostly from Assam, were injured in violent attacks by locals in the area since Monday evening.
“Students of the Institute were targeted by locals after an altercation during a football match turned violent,” a teacher at the institute said by telephone requesting he not be named.
Groups of locals armed with crude implements started attacking students Monday and on Tuesday.
Police and paramilitary troopers were deployed in strength around the campus to prevent further attacks.
“Many students from Assam who boarded buses and other public transport were stopped on the road and forced to get down and then severely assaulted,” the teacher said.
At least 20 students have since been admitted to hospitals with serious injuries.
“There is tension in the area, although things are under control now,” a police official in Gangtok said.
There are some 800 students from Assam studying at the Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology.