CHENNAI: Much to the chagrin of MRTS (Mass Rapid Transport System) passengers, students of city colleges clashed with each other over the notorious ‘route thala’ supremacy after stopping the train by pulling the train near Beach railway station on Tuesday. The group of students then pelted stones at the coach.

Three students of Presidency College have been arrested by the Government Railway Police (GRP) in connection with the incident.

Preliminary investigations by railway police revealed that students travelling on the Gummidipoondi route wanted to exclaim their supremacy over those travelling on a different route.

The arrested students were identified as Lokesh, Rohith and Ravichandran - all studying second year at Presidency College. Apart from raising slogans and creating a ruckus by pelting stones at the train, they were also carrying machetes in their hands but fled the scene before police could reach the spot.

Based on a complaint from a student of the same college who suffered injuries, Egmore railway police registered a case and arrested the trio on Wednesday. Railway police said that they would be meeting the parents and college authorities to ask them to counsel the students to refrain from indulging in such activities.