KOCHI: Authorities of the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) suspended classes in the School of Engineering (SOE) indefinitely after clashes broke out between students belonging to the Students Federation of India and Kerala Students Union . Students staying at the BTech hostels in the campus have also been asked to vacate.Police sources said they have taken into custody around 50 students following the clashes. Sources said SFI activists, along with DYFI members had barged into the Sahara hostel and attacked students belonging to the KSU and a dissident Left group known as ‘Malabaris’.Tuesday was the day for electing student representatives to the senate but varsity sources said was free of violence for some time but recently more such incidents are being reported.Sasigopal said the incident did not involve student political organizations and was a fallout of altercations between individual students, which started during ‘TalenTime’ and ‘Tech Time’ organized by students.In February last year, Kalamassery police had arrested 25 students after clashes between SFI activists and members of the ‘Malabari’ group.An SFI leader said the fight was between two group of students and there was no involvement of either the federation or the KSU.Clashes had broken out last week during the ‘TalenTime’ event and Tuesday’s incident was a continuation of it, police sources said.A video purportedly of the incident shared by students showed a group of students destroying motorbikes parked in front of the Sahara Hostel.Hostel chief warden Sasigopal said strict action would be taken against students found to have been involved in destruction of public property. “We have CCTV cameras at the hostels and I have asked for the footage,” he said.

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