Students of a private polytechnic were lathi charged by the police in an incident which happened on Thursday.

Four students, studying in Pavendar Polytechnic College, died a couple of days before when they were traveling on the footboard of a bus. The accident happened when the bus collided against a lorry on Saturday. This incident infuriated the students and hence the college remained closed for three days.

The college was re-opened on Thursday when the students staged a protest. Raising slogans against the management and the Principal of the college, the students blocked the Aathur-Chennai highway causing heavy traffic jam. Hearing about the incident, police authorities and vehicles came to the spot. Amidst heavy tension, a college bus, which was trying to enter the college, was stoned and the glass panes of the bus were broken by the protesting students.

This sparked a major incident when the police intervened and tried to solve the situation. But the students, who were demanding compensation for the dead students and their families, did not budge. This led the police to lathi charge the students. Though there was a lot of tension prevailing, the police finally managed to resume peace and cleared the traffic on the highway.