By Arun Pratap Singh
Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 21 Aug: A late-night checking drive by Dehradun Police at hostels and paying guest accommodations in the Premnagar area last night has once again brought the spotlight on the growing problem of student violence and indiscipline in the city’s major educational belt. Acting on the directions of SSP Dehradun, several police teams led by SP City Pramod Kumar conducted surprise checks at several hostels and paying guest accommodations (PGs) and issued notices to four establishments where irregularities were found.
In addition, the Police also nabbed four youths found roaming unnecessarily late at night for questioning. It may be recalled that yesterday some youths had openly indulged in fighting and firing and even chased each other for a long distance raising serious questions on policing in Dehradun.
The police also reportedly checked details of students staying in the hostels and PGs and directed the hostel operators to ensure 100 percent police verification of occupants, install CCTV cameras, maintain proper entry and exit records and restrict hostel entry after 10 p.m. The operators were also warned that outsiders should be allowed entry only after proper verification. Police have asserted that, if any resident is found involved in criminal activities or drug-related offences, legal action can be taken against both the student and the hostel operator.
The latest exercise, however, raises a larger question: why does the police have to repeatedly raid the same educational and residential pockets only after an incident occurs? The question assumes greater significance in view of yesterday’s firing incident in Patel Nagar, in which a hotel management student was arrested after two groups allegedly clashed and shots were fired, leaving a youth injured. Police had managed to arrest the accused, identified as Rohit and recovered the car allegedly used in the incident. However, some other accused are still missing.
Yesterday’s incident is significant because it follows a disturbing pattern of student-related clashes, shootings and street violence in and around Dehradun’s rapidly expanding education hubs. In August 2025, two students allegedly fired in the air outside a private university hostel in Premnagar following a dispute between two student groups. The Police had later arrested seven students in connection with the episode and initiated preventive action against them.
The same month, firing outside a boys’ PG near Gangotri Hostel in the Nanda Ki Chowki area had also created panic among students. Police said the incident was linked to an old rivalry between two groups of students. A B Pharma student, Ved Bharadwaj, was subsequently arrested and a country-made pistol, a live cartridge and an empty cartridge were recovered. Police had formed special teams and sent a report to the concerned university for action against the student.
The violence was not confined to firing. Days later, police arrested five BTech students of a private university for their alleged involvement in a street fight. Following the incident, police conducted surprise checks at 12 boys’ hostels and PG accommodations in the Bidhauli-Premnagar area, briefed around 200 students and fined six hostel operators Rs 60,000 for failing to verify occupants. In March this year, a 22-year-old BTech student was killed after two groups of students clashed near a private university in Premnagar. The groups allegedly used rods and hockey sticks, with police describing the incident as arising from an old rivalry. Three students were arrested in the case.
There have been other incidents involving firearms as well. In April 2025, a BSc student staying in a PG in the Premnagar area was allegedly shot at by a fellow student, while another case involved a student firing at a peer. These incidents have repeatedly raised concerns over how students manage to obtain and possess firearms and how effectively the police and institutions monitor students staying in private accommodation.
What is particularly worrying is the familiar cycle that follows almost every such incident. There is immediate police action, raids and checking of hostels, notices to operators, warnings to educational institutions, directions for police verification and CCTV installation, and assurances of strict action. For a few days, the issue remains under scrutiny. Then, as public attention shifts elsewhere, the checking drives lose momentum and the underlying problem returns.
The real test of policing will be whether the measures announced now continue when there is no shooting or violent clash in the headlines. A very concerning pattern is the fact that a significant number of students appear to be in possession of firearms and are not scared to open fire in their rivalry. The mushrooming of private hostels and PGs around Premnagar, Bidhauli, Nanda Ki Chowki, Selaqui and other educational pockets has created a parallel residential ecosystem housing thousands of young people mainly from other states such as Punjab, Haryana and UP. The police cannot possibly monitor every student, but it can insist on strict verification, maintain updated databases, conduct regular and unpredictable inspections and identify trouble-prone groups before rivalry turns violent. Equally, universities and colleges need to take responsibility for students involved in repeated indiscipline rather than merely leaving the matter to the police.
The pertinent question is whether the present policing arrangement in these educational belts is adequate for the rapidly increasing student population. If rival groups can repeatedly fight, arrange firearms and allegedly use hostels and PGs as bases for intimidation, there is clearly a gap somewhere between intelligence gathering, verification and enforcement.
It remains to be seen whether after the notices, warnings and raids are over, will the police continue checking these hostels and PGs, or will the issue once again be forgotten until the next firing incident?
