PATIALA: Rumours of a haunted hostel and two missing female students triggered a massive protest by students at a private university in Rajpura through Friday night and into early Saturday. The unrest escalated into clashes with police, vandalism of two police vehicles and damage to campus property.Banur SHO inspector Gursewak Singh said the unrest began after a prank by some students sparked rumours about ghosts linked to an alumnus’s suicide in a hostel. Rumours later spread that two female students were missing. All three, however, were false, he said — no student had died by suicide at the university nor were any students missing.University registrar Col Rakesh Sharma (retd) said things under control and academic activities were continuing as usual.Police and university officials said unverified posts and clips circulated on student WhatsApp and social media groups on Friday night. Some students then claimed that screams had been heard from the girls’ hostel. Hundreds of hostellers gathered in common areas, raising slogans against the administration and demanding answers.Teams from Banur, Rajpura Sadar and Rajpura City police stations rushed to the campus but some members of the crowd damaged police vehicles, and allegedly manhandled an outpost in charge.Registrar Sharma said the rumours of missing girls were baseless and authorities immediately intervened and told students that no such incident had occurred. He said none of the students could verify details of the missing students.Police conducted a verification drive and said protesters could not provide any name, photograph, roll number or identifying detail of the alleged missing students. SHO Gursewak Singh said no student had been reported missing or harmed.Patiala police have begun an inquiry into the origin of the rumours and the vandalism, but have not registered a case against students. Investigators are seeking to identify those behind the prank and rumours.University authorities advised students and parents to disregard unverified online claims. Additional security personnel were deployed outside the campus on Saturday as a precaution.
