KARACHI, Feb 27: A violent free-for-all between two student groups at Karachi University on Monday left at least 10 students and two Rangers personnel injured, sources said.

A mob of students also ransacked the administration block, smashed windows of the offices of the vice chancellor and students' adviser besides manhandling the varsity's chief security officer and two other employees when they tried to prevent the students' entry into the building.

Rangers personnel deployed on the campus fired into the air and the groups were tear-gassed. Fifteen students were also taken into custody by the Rangers.

However, a KU spokesman said that neither students nor Rangers personnel received any injuries. According to him, the university officials also remained unhurt.

The situation was controlled within two hours with the dispersal of activists. The students picked up by the Rangers were also released late Monday night.

“The clash began immediately after Zuhr prayers and continued for around two hours,” said a professor who demanded stern action against the students involved in such incidents. “Had the previous KU administration rusticated students for their involvement in clashes, no one would have dared to resort to such hooliganism on the campus,” he said. Dawn

KU sources told that the Monday clash appeared to be a follow-up to Saturday's altercation between two student groups on the issue of posters on a wall near the university library.

The situation turned violent when one of the two groups hurled a brick at the other which responded in the same way. In the clash, not only the students but also two Rangers personnel who tried to control the situation received injuries.

It was the first violent incident during the tenure of vice chancellor Prof (Dr) Mohammad Qaiser, who assumed office on Feb 10.

Rangers officials later briefed him on the security measures they had taken to prevent such incidents in future.

The Rangers personnel informed the vice chancellor that the number of pickets on the campus had been increased and arrangements made to check entry of unconcerned people into the campus.

The KU spokesman said that the vice chancellor expressed his satisfaction over the security steps and appealed to the students to maintain the sanctity of the university.

The spokesman added that the university would remain open on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, an emergency meeting of the Karachi University Officers Association, chaired by its president Mohammad Tahir Khan, condemned the manhandling of the university's chief security officer, Iftikhar Alam, and two other employees. The meeting demanded that the university authorities take stern action against those involved in the incident.