New Delhi: Teachers and students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Wednesday claimed no headway had been made by the Delhi Police in the probe into the violence on the varsity campus in January last year.
The Delhi Police, however, said the investigation is still underway.
The development comes a day after Lok Sabha was informed by Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai that the Delhi Police has not arrested anyone in connection with the violence at JNU even though several people were examined.
On January 5 last year, a mob of masked men stormed the campus and targeted students in three hostels, unleashing mayhem with sticks, stones and iron rods, hitting inmates and breaking windows, furniture and personal belongings.
While clamour grew for the removal of JNU Vice Chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar after the incident, the Delhi Police came under attack for not acting when the mob was running riot on the campus, and especially for naming student union leaders, including JNU student union president (JNUSU) Aishe Ghosh in the two FIRs related to vandalism on the campus.
“It was very clear that after the SIT was constituted that nothing was going to be done. If we ask the Vice Chancellor about what happened, he says the Delhi Police has constituted an SIT, JNU Teachers’ Association secretary Moushumi Basu said.
The Delhi Police had formed a Special Investigating Team (SIT) to investigate all the incidents of violence. The SIT had identified 37 people from a 60-member WhatsApp group named ‘Unity against Left’ believed to have been created while the violence escalated on the JNU campus.
The WhatsApp groups were easily identifiable but nothing was done. Their members have become faculty members at JNU. Everybody is hand in glove. This is a pattern that has been happening right from the time Najeeb disappeared,” she added.
Najeeb Ahmed, a biotechnology student of JNU, had gone missing on the night of October 15, 2016, from the university.
Basu said the press conference that Delhi Police did in which it announced the names of some students was very strange .
“What happened to the other names that emerged? It’s traumatising what happened on the campus that day. It’s good that the issue was raised in parliament but the answer was depressing,” Basu added.
Saket Moon, Vice president of JNUSU, accused police of trying to suppress the matter after constituting an SIT.
“We made frantic calls to the police before the incident and even after the incident and there were no arrests made at that time. It is an extension of what unfolded at that time. It was already in public knowledge that no arrests have been made in this case, Moon said.
The Delhi Police, after constituting an SIT, tried to suppress the matter. There are photos and evidences that point towards the involvement of ABVP members. It indicates the complicity of the administration in the matter,” Moon added.
JNUSU general secretary Satish Chandra Yadav said, “The videos of the accused were shared with police and they had been identified. It is disappointing that people of one ideology were targeted while those with the other ideology have been shielded.”
“The fee hike movement was nearing its 100 days when the violence was unleashed on the campus and the attack was a way to suppress our movement. This is what is happening in other places too where efforts are made to suppress the truth. However, the JNU students still have a hope that one day they will get justice,” he added.
Rai had on Tuesday said the Delhi Police has reported that the SIT of Crime Branch was constituted to investigate three cases registered at Vasant Kunj (North) Police Station with regard to the violence on the JNU campus.
“The investigation conducted includes examination of witnesses; collection and analysis of footage; and examination of identified suspects. As reported by the Delhi Police, no arrest has been made in these cases, he had said in a reply to a written question DMK’s Dayanidhi Maran.
(PTI)