Altercation At Dandiya Night Claims Patna College Student’s Life, Main Accused Arrested

Patna: Police on Tuesday arrested the main accused in connection with the murder of Harsh Raj, a third-year student of Vocational English at BN College in Bihar Capital.

The 22-year-old was beaten to death by masked men on the campus of Sultanganj Law College here, where he had gone to give an exam, on Monday.

The attack was allegedly triggered by an altercation over a Dandiya night organised during Dussehra last year. The accused, who has reportedly admitted to the crime, told police that there were heated exchanges after the night which hurt his ego. “A heinous crime took place on the law college campus yesterday. Some anti-social elements beat up a student, Harsh Raj, so badly that he died later. We formed a Special Investigation Team. We have now arrested the main accused, who planned the attack. His name is Chandan Yadav, a final-year student of Patna college. He has admitted to the crime and efforts are on to nab the other accused,” City SP (East) Bharat Soni told the media.

The incident took place inside the campus auditorium and so there is no CCTV footage of the incident. Police arrested him on basis of  videos shot taken by those present, Indian Express reported.

Harsh’s father Ajit Kumar, who lives in Vaishali , told the media that he was also preparing to stand for the president’s post in the upcoming Patna University Students’ Union polls.

“The news of the murder of Harsh, a promising student of BN College, is extremely sad. This barbaric act cannot be condemned enough. I am in touch with the local administration regarding this, and the culprits will be arrested as soon as possible. They will not be spared. We stand with the bereaved family in this hour of grief,” Bihar’s Rural Works Department Minister wrote on X posting an old photo with Harsh.