Staff reporter
Guwahati: Tensions ahead of the Cotton University students’ union elections escalated and police had to intervene at the SNBC hostel on Wednesday night. A student leader aspirant, Debashish Barman, alleged that he was abducted and physically assaulted by a group of students, prompting Panbazar police to register a case.
According to officials, the case has been registered against six non-boarder students, two boarder students, and three former students of Cotton University. The charges include wrongful confinement and criminal intimidation.
“The accused students were instructed to appear at the police station but they failed to comply with. We then sent the ACP and OC to the hostel, with the permission of the hostel warden. The university Registrar was also summoned. No assault materials were recovered during the search,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Amitabh Basumatary.
The FIR follows a complaint by Debashish Barman, a Cotton University student. Barman alleged that on September 8, around 6 pm, 11 students, including several former students, abducted him, confined him in a hostel room, and physically assaulted him.
“Several of them dragged me by my legs and beat me with a guitar. While assaulting me, my shirt was torn off. They also threatened to kill me and attempted to coerce me into making a video,” Barman stated in his complaint. Barman, a former SNBC hostel resident, had planned to contest the student union elections and is now backed by SRB Hostel.
Despite the incident, the Cotton University Students’ Union has announced that the election process will continue as scheduled. Voting is set for September 24, while counting and results will be declared the next day.
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