Public shell-shocked as student goons run ‘terror’ on city bus

While seven students suffered injuries in the attack, the police arrested two accused and launched a hunt for others. The police said that the attack was a fallout of the fight over who the ‘route thala’ (route leader) is.

Around 3 pm, after a group of students from Pachaiyappa’s College boarded an MTC route number 29E plying from Perambur to Tiruverkadu. As the bus reached Arumbakkam, a clash broke out between two groups inside the bus. One group of students took out machetes from their bags and started attacking the other group, said the police.

Following this, the bus driver stopped the bus in the middle of the road and a video recorded from top of a building in the locality showed students standing outside the bus attacking those standing on the steps of the vehicle.

Passengers alighted from the bus in panic and ran from the spot. While the attack lasted for about 30 minutes, a few passers-by alerted the police. When a patrol team went to the spot, the students with the weapons fled the scene. However, the police detained two of them identified as Madhan (20), studying final-year BA Philosophy and Shruthi (20), studying final-year BA History student in Pachaiyappa’s College.

The injured students were admitted to Stanley Medical College Hospital for treatment and one of them has been identified as I Vasanthakumar (19), a second-year BA Philosophy student of the same college. Meanwhile, the police said that four special teams have been formed under the supervision of Additional Commissioner (North) R Dhinakaran to nab the remaining suspects. In August, 2018, a video of college students dragging the machetes on the road from an MTC bus on Poonamallee High Road went viral and eight of them were detained by the police.