Mob violence took a rather ugly turn in West Bengal's Burdwan University campus as at least 100 students were attacked by unidentified miscreants with nail-studded batons late last evening.

According to sources, few people entered campus taking advantage of the sudden power cut. These men were armed with sticks and nail-studded batons and started beating up the students. Around 700 students from colleges affiliated to Burdwan University, 100 km from Kolkata, had gathered on the campus on Thursday for an indefinite hunger strike demanding postponing of third year exams scheduled to be held in March. They were accusing the college authorities of irregularities in the second year exam results. Some students have been admitted to the nearby hospital.

One of the attackers who was apprehended has revealed that they were acting at the behest of a leader who had close links with the Trinamool-affiliated non-teaching employees' union. No official statements were made by any member of the Trinamool Congress.

The Vice-chancellor maintains that the non-teaching staff had enough and were not willing to budge because of the continued protests of the students. The

The campus has been closed for the weekend following the violence.