For being a topper, engineering student plays with life

Hisar (Haryana) : A second year mechanical engineering student of a private college here was killed Monday allegedely by two of his batchmates who had developed an animosity towards him because he was a class topper despite coming from a poor family.

Pradeep Kumar (20) was shot dead near the gate of the Kalpana Chawla College of Education as he alighted from a bus. Police said he suffered three bullet injuries which caused his death.

The police have registered a case of murder against his two batchmates – Kalyan Singh and Raj Kumar.

“Our inquiries have revealed that the accused were upset that Pradeep used to top in his class despite coming from a poor family. They used to pass remarks against him and today they fired at him,” a police official said here.

Police sources said the accused also teased Pradeep as he came from a lower caste. The victim was the son of a carpenter.

Pradeep was the only son of his parents and was a bright student in the engineering college, officials said.

Ram Pal, Pradeep’s father, said the family had brought his harassment the notice of the college management a few times earlier but nothing was done to restrain his tormentors.

“Pradeep had himself complained to the college management earlier about the harassment he was facing from his classmates. But the college authorities did not take any action. The family had also complained but nothing was done,” a relative of Pradeep said.

His family alleged that the attackers belonged to rich and influential families and harassed not only Pradeep but other students as well.

Hisar district police chief Anil Dhawan said police teams have been formed to nab the attackers.