Four engineering students of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) were booked under the Anti-Ragging Act in Varanasi on Tuesday for allegedly ragging a first-year student outside the campus.

“S Harsha, P Kishore, K Raja and Guru Prashad have been arrested for ragging a student,” said Deputy Inspector General of Police P C Meena.

“Four students — two of third-year and two of first-year — allegedly thrashed a fresher on Monday evening after he refused to act like a stripper,” said Chief Proctor H C S Rathore.

They also took away Rs 1,000 and a mobile phone from him, he added. Taking a serious view of the incident, the university authorities immediately ousted all the four accused from the university hostels and banned them for four semesters.

Incidentally, all the five students — the four accused and one victim — belong to Dalit community.

All the four accused were produced before the magistrate on Tuesday and were sent to jail.