Kolkata: Thirteen people, most of them from the ruling Trinamool Congress, were arrested from the Raiganj area of West Bengal's North Dinajpur district on Friday for the assault a day earlier on the principal of a government college in the district.
"We have arrested 13 persons in connection to this case. Most of them belong to Trinamool. We are investigating the case," said North Bengal Inspector General of Police Sanjoy Singh.
Most of those 13 arrested for Thursday's attack are affiliated to the students' wing of the Trinamool Congress. They include both students and outsiders, but the main accused, Trinamool Congress leader Trilok Choudhury, is missing and on the run, police said.
The principal and some teachers of the Raiganj government college were severely beaten up Thursday by supporters of the Trinamool Chatra Parishad (TMCP) after hot exchanges between the college authorities and TMCP members over students union elections in the college.
"We were mercilessly beaten by members of the TMCP. I don't think that we deserve such kind of treatment," said Subrata Saha, a professor of the College.
However, the TMCP leadership alleged that the principal and the college authorities were hand in glove with the students union of the Congress and had meted out unfair treatment to the Trinamool Chatra Parishad.
Bengal's intellectuals also condemned the violence, and said such incidents should not happen in educational institutions.
"It is regretful that such incidents are happening. An educational institution is meant for studying and not for fighting and beating up our own teachers and principals," said actor Kaushik Sen.
"This is really shameful. Strict action should be taken against the culprits," renowned writer Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay said.
IANS
First Published: Friday, January 06, 2012, 18:39