A second-year mechanical engineering student of Visakha Institute of Engineering and Technology, Narava, was thrashed by six unknown persons allegedly at the instance of the warden of the college hostel on Thursday night.
The student, identified as Satish, sustained bleeding injuries and was admitted to a private hospital in Gopalapatnam.
According to the police, the warden, Jagan Mohan, approached Uday Kumar, also a second year student of the same stream, seeking a loan of Rs.2,000 a week ago.
In good faith, Uday reportedly gave his ATM card and PIN to the warden and asked him to withdraw the amount.
The next day, the warden returned the card to Uday without withdrawing the amount. He then noticed Uday keeping the card in a bag in his hostel room.
Two days ago, the warden allegedly stole the card from Uday’s bag and asked Satish to withdraw Rs.10,000 and disclosed the PIN for the purpose.
“Thinking that the ATM card belongs to the warden, Satish withdrew the cash and handed it over to the warden,” said a police officer.
Later during the day, Satish came to know that Uday lost his ATM card and that Rs.10,000 had been withdrawn from his account.
Suspecting foul play, Satish confronted Jagan Mohan.
Quoting Satish, Pendurthi Police Station Inspector J. Murali said that the warden reportedly confessed to have stolen Uday’s card and tried to bribe him (the victim) by offering a share of Rs.5,000 in a bid to hush up the incident.
Infuriated by it, Satish reportedly warned the warden of exposing his misdeed if he did not confess to the crime in the open. Taken aback at the turn of events, the warden allegedly asked six of his friends to attack Satish.
The six persons attacked Satish in an inebriated condition near the hostel and injured him. Satish was later shifted to the hospital by other inmates of the hostel, said the Inspector.
The police booked a case and launched a manhunt to nab the miscreants and the warden who is at large.