Varanasi: A Banaras Hindu University student, who was shot at by unidentified assailants in front of a hostel in the campus, succumbed to injuries in a hospital, police said Wednesday. The incident occurred on Tuesday evening when Gaurav Singh, pursuing his masters in the university and residing in the Lal Bahadur Shastri Hostel on the campus was standing outside Birla Hostel, and talking to his friends.

Going by eyewitness accounts, Gaurav was crossing the Birla hostel gate on Tuesday evening when three armed assailants opened fire at him. He reportedly sustained bullet wounds on his stomach and was rushed to the trauma centre at BHU's Institute of Medical Sciences located within the university campus where he succumbed to his injuries later into the night.

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Following the incident, varsity students staged demonstrations to condemn the brazen attack on one of their own inside the university campus. Four students have reportedly been detained for vandalising campus property and the trauma centre. Lanka police in Varanasi has lodged a case and launched an investigation in this regard. However, no arrests have been made in connection with the attack as of yet. Reports suggest that the victim, Gaurav, was a second-year MCA student who was expelled from the college after his name featured in a list of students accused of perpetrating violence on the campus in 2018. A senior police official told media outlets that the assailants pumped three bullets into Gaurav, hitting him in the chest and stomach. Meanwhile, varsity spokesperson Rajesh Singh said that the matter is under active investigation by police.

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Sections of the media report that police are currently combing through closed-circuit television cameras (CCTV) to identify the assailants who attacked Singh and apprehend them as soon as possible. Circle officer, Varanasi Cantonment, Anil Kumar Singh said that four students have been detained for the attack on Singh and are being interrogated to ascertain the motive for murder. "It is a case of personal enmity," the CO told press personnel. More details on this matter are awaited pending an extensive police inquiry. However, the questions this incident raises about the safety of students inside the BHU campus is one that is yet to be answered by the concerned officials.