Panic on running bus as school students clash

MADURAI : Passengers on a crowded government bus, which was on its way to Tuticorin city on Friday morning, ran for their lives after a group of school students attacked two Plus One students using a knife. The Tuticorin police have detained four Class Nine students in connection with the incident.
The injured students were identified as Pon Diwakar, 17, son of Packiaraj and Aravindraj, 17, son of Balakrishnan, both hailing from Mullaikadu.Police said the two, along with their friends, used to travel in the government bus to their school located in Tuticorin city. "A group of students from Rajiv Gandhi Nagar near Mullaikadu, who are studying in a school located in the Beach Road also used to travel in the same bus. There was a dispute between the two groups in the bus on Thursday evening while they were returning home. The dispute arose when they talked ill about each other's community. The verbal duel took an ugly turn and they entered into a fist fight. The bus conductor, with the help of other passengers, had brokered peace between the groups," a police officer told TOI.
However, the students from Rajiv Gandhi Nagar decided to take revenge and turned up on Friday morning ready to attack the senior students. "Soon after they got on the bus, four Class Nine students approached the victims and began abusing them. One of them took out a knife and attacked the duo. His friends helped him. The bus was packed with a large number of men and women on their way to work. As things turned bloody, the panicked passengers ran away from the bus," the officer added.
A police team from Muthiahpuram station rushed to the spot and shifted the injured students to a hospital. Police sources said the injuries were not life threatening.
The attackers have been picked up and are being questioned. A formal complaint is awaited.