Mangaluru : The Mangaluru Rural Police on Friday arrested nine students pursuing second and third year bachelor of pharmacy courses in Valachil Srinivas college on the outskirts of the city on the charge of ragging.

Police Commissioner N. Shashi Kumar told reporters here on Friday that the ragging issue came to light when the victim student’s father called a senior police officer seeking help to get college fee refunded as his son was not inclined to continue studies there.

On inquiry, it was revealed that Abhiraj from Kasargod of Kerala, who had joined first B.Pharma at Srinivas College of Pharmacy, Valachchil, was accosted by a few senior students on January 10 when he was on his way to the hostel from the college. The senior students asked him to cut his hair as well as moustache and one of them slapped the victim on his face. Again, on January 12, the accused reprimanded him for not following their direction and threatened to cut his hair and moustache the next day if he did not do so himself.

Police Commissioner said that, meanwhile, the accused students had also summoned the victim to their paying guest accommodation twice along with some of his batch-mates asking them to cut their hair. Senior students also assaulted the victims. When the victim returned home and told his parents that he was not interested in continuing his studies there, his worried parents made further inquiries with him and later contacted the police seeking help in getting their hostel and college fee refunded, the Commissioner said.

He gave the names of the accused as Jishnu (20), P.V. Srikantha (20), Ashwath (20), Sayanth (22), Abhirath Rajiv (21), all third B.Pharma students, P. Rahul (21), Jishnu (20), Mukthar Ali (19) and K. Mohammed Razeem (20), all second B.Pharma students.

Deputy Commissioners of Police Hariram Shankar and Vinay Gaonkar were present.