Gujarat : Two Arrested After Mob Attack on Afghani Students offering Namaz at Gujarat University Hostel

Ahmedabad : The Ahmedabad Crime Branch has arrested two people in connection with the attack on Afghani students offering namaz in the hostel ground at Gujarat University late Saturday night. The arrested individuals have been identified as Hitesh Mewada, a resident of Sola, and Bharat Patel, a resident of Vastral.

Police are searching for at least seven other attackers who barged into the A-block hostel and assaulted foreign students offering prayers for Ramadan.

The Gujarat University police station is located some half a kilometer away from the hostel. About seven to eight Afghani students were offering namaz in the hostel ground and the miscreants came at 10:30 pm. The miscreants shouted on the Afghani students to go and offer namaz in the masjid  and not in the hostel ground.

Following this, one of the Afghani students went toward the mob and slapped one of the miscreants. This resulted in the mob of 20-25 miscreants starting thrashing the Afghani students. The Afghani students shot the videos of the miscreants attacking the students and the vandalism on their mobile phones and posted on the social media platform.

These Afghani students are studying at the Gujarat University under the exchange programme and they are here for the last 10 years. The A-Block of the Gujarat university is also known as Afghani Hostel.

It is believed that the miscreants might be from the saffron brigade as they were wearing saffron khes. However, the police are investigating the connection of the miscreants involved in the attack.

According to police reports, a mob of around 20-25 people entered the hostel and attacked the students. They also threw stones and vandalized the hostel premises. Videos of the incident have surfaced online.

Following the attack, Ahmedabad City Police Commissioner G.S. Malik, MLA Kaushik Jain, and Chancellor Neerja Gupta visited the injured students at SVP Hospital.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Tarun Duggal informed that a case of vandalism and assault has been registered regarding the incident. Nine investigation teams are currently working on the case, leading to the arrests of the two accused. Efforts are underway to apprehend the remaining suspects with the help of technical surveillance and human sources.

To ensure the safety of residents, entry of outsiders has been restricted in the A-block of the Gujarat University hostel since Sunday noon. The Chancellor and Registrar met with the foreign students, and a police team including a Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) has been deployed alongside over 10 university security guards. Unauthorized entry into the hostel is strictly prohibited.

Police Commissioner G.S. Malik stated that a call was received by the police control room at 10.51 pm on Saturday, and officers reached the scene within five minutes. A mob of 20-25 individuals arrived at the A-block hostel where some students were offering prayers for Ramadan. An altercation ensued when a group of people objected to the students praying on-site and demanded they use the mosque instead. The situation escalated into a fight, with the mob entering the hostel and vandalizing rooms.

The Gujarat university police have registered an FIR in the case and that the complainant is the security guard of the university and not the victim Afghani students.

Ahmedabad police commissioner GS Malik said, “We will take stricter action against the miscreants involved in the attack. A case has been registered and nobody will be spared. We will share all the details by late evening”

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, took to Twitter to condemn the violence. He confirmed that the state government is taking strict action against the perpetrators. The MEA is also in touch with the Gujarat government, and one of the two injured students has already been discharged from the hospital.