The academic year opened at the famed Maharaja's College in Kochi on Monday under the shadow of the overnight murder of a Students Federation of India (SFI) leader.
Abhimanyu, 20, from Vattavada in Idukki and an SFI Idukki district committee member, was stabbed late on Sunday night after a dispute over graffiti with members of the Campus Front, the students wing of the Islamic Popular Front of India.
Nearly 15 people were in the gang that attacked Abhimanyu; police have retrieved CCTV footage of the alleged perpetrators running away.
Abhimanyu, a second-year BSc chemistry student at the college, was declared dead on arrival at a hospital. Another student, Arjun, 19, also received stab injuries and is in a serious condition. He was taken to the Medical Trust Hospital.
Three people from the Campus Front have been detained, but the police said they are not students of the college. The police have information that 15 others were in the gang that attacked Abhimanyu. The police checked vehicles in the city throughout the night to foil their escape bid.
The SFI has called for a strike across the state on Monday to protest against the killing of its activist.
The SFI and the Campus Front have been writing on college walls as it is a routine practice at the beginning of the academic year. The problem started when some students started to write over graffiti put up by the rival group. One such writing was 'communalism' over the writing 'Campus Front.'
The SFI alleged that the Campus Front destroyed some of the boards they had set up welcoming new students as the academic year was starting on Monday.
CPI(M) state secretariat member and former Rajya Sabha MP P. Rajeev condemned the attack on the SFI workers and described it as a "planned" one carried out by forces with "extremist nature".
"We have not heard about such a heinous attack on student activists in recent times. All the progressive forces should come forward to fight against such outfits with extremist nature," said Rajeev, a former state leader of the SFI.
(With PTI inputs)