Indian, foreign students clash in Vadodara varsity

 As many as 20 students were injured in violence between Indian and foreign students on the campus of the Waghodia-based Parul University near Vadodara late on Sunday night.

The police detained 18 students, including eight foreign nationals, and filed two FIRs. The injured were moved to the hospital on the university campus.

“As per information available, the incident happened when Indian students were passing by the international hostel. It began with a verbal altercation between the two groups, leading to huge mobs from both sides gathering near the hostel, later leading to a clash,” Waghodia police station in-charge Aniruddhsinh Kamadiya said.
“We immediately swung into action and even brought in additional force from the district to bring the situation under control,” he said.

The university authorities have closed down the campus, including the hostel.
The injured included six students from Afghanistan, two from Uganda and one from the Congo. The others are Indian students.

“This is a very serious incident and we will take stringent action against those involved. We are yet to identify some of the miscreants in the crowd, but one thing is sure that they will all be behind bars at the earliest, irrespective of their
nationality,” the police official said.

The police said they would also inform the respective embassies about the incident.
The official said they had filed two separate FIRs so far. “As one of the Indian students was very seriously injured, their FIR has clauses related to attempt to murder and rioting,  while the FIR filed on behalf of the foreign students has clauses mainly related to rioting,” he explained.

A large contingent of police personnel remained stationed at the campus as an uneasy calm prevailed on Monday.