Noida, Oct 4 (IANS): A mob of young men on Thursday thrashed a few Afghanistan nationals studying at a private university in Greater Noida on Thursday, though authorities denied any violence on the campus.

According to an eyewitness, the mob roughed up the Afghan students after dragging them out from an examination hall at the Sharda University. The attackers shouted 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' and communal slurs against the foreign students and demanded they be sent back back to their country.

It was alleged that Thursday's attack was in retaliating to a scuffle among two groups of students two days ago.

"There were many students shouting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' and other communal slogans. They dragged out the Afghan students and beat them up. Guards deployed on the campus shielded some of the victims by locking them inside a room... one of the students was beaten up inside a car while being whisked away by police," the eyewitness told IANS.

In a video clip shared on the social media on Monday, a group of students said to be from Afghanistan was seen roughing up a student and threatening the onlookers to disperse or else they too will be beaten up.

Interestingly, the clipping of assault on Afghan students during the day was also shared on the social media. It could not be immediately known if anyone was injured.

A senior university official denied any scuffle and maintained that students were only protesting and demanding action against certain Afghan students.

"There was no violence today (Thursday). Some students had gathered to demand to know what action had been taken against the erring Afghan students. We told them that we are yet to conclude our inquiry and will be ready with the report by Monday," Dean of School of Language and Culture Pramod Kumar Mitra said.