By IANS,
Jalandhar : The Lovely Professional University (LPU) here Thursday called off classes for three days following the death of a Mizo student who was brutally thrashed by three African students during a football match in the campus.
“In the wake of this incident, we have called off classes till Saturday,” a varsity spokesperson told IANS.
The three African students were arrested Wednesday night.
Two students, Ahmed Al-Nagni and Sayed Feisal, are from Tanzania, while the third, Hatin Indriss, hails from Sudan.
A friendly football match between students from Africa and Mizoram in the campus turned deadly Tuesday when players of the two teams engaged in a brawl, resulting in the death of the Mizoram player, identified as Johnny F. Lalhmangaih.
Lalhmangaih, 22, was pursuing civil engineering from the LPU.
Following the incident, scores of Indian students had gone on rampage and damaged the hostel’s furniture and rooms. Heavy police force was called in to control the situation.
An uneasy calm prevailed in the university campus. University authorities have shifted African students from the hostel to some undisclosed location.
“We are taking all precautionary measures. We do not want our students to resort to violence and higher authorities of the university will make sure that strict action will be taken against the culprits. Very few African students stay in the hostel as most of them are staying outside the campus,” the spokesperson said.
Earlier too there was a clash between Indian and African students, but the matter was resolved amicably.
Currently, over 250 foreign students from 16 countries are studying at the university. Of them, around 50 are from African countries.
According to the post-mortem report, Lalhmangaih died of internal injuries. His relative from Chandigarh had come to take his body. His father is working as sub-divisional officer in the public welfare department in Mizoram.
Punjab’s first private university, Lovely Professional University is located on the Phagwara-Jalandhar National Highway and has over 24,000 students on its rolls.