Bank scuffle: Guards thrashed by students

Central College students are alleged to have manhandled security personnel of the State Bank of Mysore branch on Kempegowda Road on Wednesday.

Central College students are alleged to have manhandled armed security guards of the State Bank of Mysore, branch on Kempegowda Road on Wednesday. The two security personnel Subramanya Naidu and Ravi Sukumar were reportedly bashed up and are undergoing treatment at a government hospital. Police said that around 10 am, before the bank could open, a group of IIIrd semester MFA (Management Finance & Accounts) students led by Nirmala Pai, Kavitha and Sumanth approached the bank and ordered the security to hand over the challans to pay the exam fee. In turn, Subramanya Naidu, the security guard told them to come after half-an-hour. This irked the students, leading to a war of words, the police said. Finally, the students managed to collect the challans from the security guard before the bank began to function. When one of the students wanted to carry the entire bundle of challans, the security guard objected which made some of the students leave the place fuming. Police said at 2:51 pm, Nirmala Pai and her friends along with her relatives and some Karnataka Rakshana Vedike activists headed by Praveen Shetty forcibly entered the bank and manhandled security guard Ravi Sukumar who stood guard at the gate. The mob tore the uniform of the security and rained blows. With the intervention of DGM Sridharan, the frayed tempers cooled and the gang was forced to leave the premises. Trouble returns When all was fine, again at 4:25 pm, the same gang with more men returned to the bank and attacked another security guard Subramanya Naidu. The gang chased and pulled Naidu all around the main hall, dragged him and thrashed him black and blue, the police said. Students said the security staff used foul language against girls, which resulted in the scuffle. Meanwhile, things went out of control when one of the students’ associates B N Anand (35) entered the premises with a .32 fully loaded revolver. During the thick of action, the revolver fell down and immediately, an alert police officer, who was at the spot, confiscated it. Police said that Anand, a document writer at the Gandhinagar sub-registrar’s office was carrying a licensed revolver and his intention was not to harm. He was accompanying student Nirmala Pai’s relative Guru Prasad. Bank’s version DGM Sridharan said: “For decades, our staff has been serving the Central College students and I don’t understand what fuelled them (students) to create trouble on Wednesday. CCTV footages will reveal the whole story and it’s up to the police to take decision.” Should bank object? Meanwhile, Harish who suffered a minor injury in the incident said: “The challans are printed and given to the bank by Bangalore University. Why should bank officials object when students carry it?” By Wednesday evening, hectic lobbying was on and students were mounting pressure on the bank manager “not to press the case”.