Lucknow, Sep 1 - Four students of a private college in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur district have alleged they were ragged and assaulted by their seniors.

Second year B.Tech students of Sitapur Shikshan Sansthan, a college offering several technical courses, have complained to college authorities that fourth year students had beaten them up after they refused to sing and dance as part of ragging Monday.

In their complaint, the students say their seniors dragged them out of the class and later ragged them inside a vacant classroom. They were later thrashed for not following the instructions of the seniors.

The victims also gave a representation at the district police chief's office Monday evening.

'As soon as I came to know about the incident, I directed a police inspector to investigate the case. We are probing the matter,' Sitapur Superintendent of Police Ram Kumar told IANS over telephone.

Said college spokesperson Lakshman Trivedi: 'An inquiry has been initiated into the matter. If the senior students are found guilty, stern action would be taken against them.'

Sitapur is about 80 km from Lucknow.