Fact-finding committee set up following JNU attack

Delhi Police officials visit JNU campus, say they have recovered ‘vital clues’.
Students protesting at the main gate of the JNU campus in New Delhi on Monday | Arun Kumar
Students protesting at the main gate of the JNU campus in New Delhi on Monday | Arun Kumar

NEW DELHI: The case of violence at JNU has been transferred to the Crime Branch, Delhi Police said on Monday, adding that a fact-finding committee has also been set up to investigating details regarding the entire incident in which 26 students and 34 people were injured.

On Monday, while protests were on at the university with the deployment of police teams at all the five gates, senior Delhi Police officials including spokesperson Mandeep Singh Randhawa visited the places of occurrence — the three hostels where the masked miscreants allegedly entered to attack the students.
“We have got vital clues that are being worked upon,” Randhawa told reporters.  

According to Randhawa, for the past few days, there have been online complaints about altercations among students due to some differences.

“We were informed about a scuffle on campus at about 5 pm. JNU is a closed campus. There is security inside the university. The admin block has our men deployed by the court order,” he said, adding that the reports about scuffle came from hostels which are “far from the admin block”.

An FIR has been lodged under Sections of the rioting of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Defacement of Public Property Act.  

A view of the vandalised Sabarmati hostel at JNU. Windows and doors were broken by the masked intruders. Vehicles were also damaged by them | Shekhar Yadav
A view of the vandalised Sabarmati hostel at JNU. Windows and doors were broken by the masked intruders. Vehicles were also damaged by them | Shekhar Yadav

Under the chairmanship of Delhi Police Joint CP, western range, Shalini Singh, a fact-finding committee has been formed, Randhawa said, adding that to avoid delay in the investigation, Crime Branch has constituted teams.

Randhawa stressed that the PCR call made was immediately responded to, rejecting charges of reaching the campus late despite several pleas by student bodies.

On Monday, the university was shut down with supporters of the Left Unity protesting against Delhi Police near the north gate, outside which the ABVP supporters later gathered and raised slogans against the leftists. Akash Sulochna, a student from the School of Social Sciences, said that left students had been counselling students to not register for exams in protest against the fee hike. “There were several attempts by the administration to get the students to register but on January 5, the server went down. This is when ABVP students started getting violent and accused us of stopping the registration,” Sulochna said.   

“Mobs with covered faces carrying bats and hockey sticks attacked our teacher Sucharita Sen who suffered severe head injuries. Following this, the attackers got scattered,” said Mayur Kumar, a student from Center for the Study of Regional Development (CSRD) who was present at the site.

“After that, they caught hold of Aishe Ghosh, the president of the JNU Students Union (JNUSU), near the 24/7 Dhaba and hit her,” he added.

Protests against cops by Left Unity
The varsity was shut down on Monday with supporters of the Left Unity protesting against Delhi Police near the north gate.

Windows and gates damaged
Sabarmati hostel which has around 140 rooms, bears the signs of destruction. Shattered pieces of glass covered the first and third floors. Windows and doors of seven rooms which were specifically targeted were broken by unknown assailants.

According to some students, these were rooms of Kashmiri Muslims which were allegedly attacked by ABVP supporters. According to students, few rooms in Periyar hostel were also damaged, but the damages were ascertained to be far lesser than that at Sabarmati.

All admitted to AIIMS released
Both JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh and Professor Sucharita Sen suffered deep lacerations. CT scans were conducted on both and they were found to be normal. Stitches were later applied. One student suffered an eye injury and was transferred to the eye centre of AIIMS. Other students had abrasion, bruises, swelling on legs, arms and knees. One person had a fracture in their finger. A total of 35 MLCs were done at AIIMS Trauma Centre. All the students were discharged on Monday. 

WATCH 

TMC MPs not allowed to enter
A day after the mob attack at the JNU, a delegation of TMC MPs, which had gone to the varsity to express solidarity with the students, was not allowed to enter the campus on Monday, said party sources. Led by former Union minister Dinesh Trivedi, the All India Trinamool Congress delegation consisted of MPs Sajda Ahmed, Manas Bhunia and Vivek Gupta. They  were stopped at the gate of the varsity, sources said. Violence broke out at JNU on Sunday after masked men armed with sticks attacked students and teachers on campus.

DCW issues notice to police
DCW chief Swati Maliwal issued summons to the Delhi Police and the JNU registrar in connection with the violence at JNU the day before. In the notice, Maliwal has sought details of the FIR registered in the case and reasons for not responding to violence immediately. She also sought the details of all PCR calls made regarding the JNU violence from 2 pm on January 5 till 7 am on January 6 and an action-taken report on each call.The Delhi Commission for Women has also sought a detailed factual report of the entire incident.

AAP meeting at Kejriwal’s house
A meeting of senior AAP leaders and ministers was held at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence over the violence at the JNU the day before. Senior party leader Sanjay Singh told reporters that the meeting was held to discuss the “serious condition” prevailing in the campus.’

“The assault on students and professors is really shameful. This is happening in the capital of India. The world is watching us.’ What message are we sending to the world?” he said. He further urged the Centre to “act immediately and restore peace in Delhi.”

Mudita Girotra, Siddhanta Mishra & Rahiba R. Parveen 

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