18 months on, no arrests in JNU violence case

The Centre informed the Lok Sabha that three cases have been registered at the Vasant Kunj (North) Police Station, but no arrests have been made yet

JNU Violence caseImage Courtesy:newindianexpress.com

During the Parliament’s ongoing Monsoon Session, Lok Sabha member Dayanidhi Maran asked the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) about the progress of the investigation in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Campus violence that took place in January last year.

To this, the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai submitted a response saying, “As reported by Delhi Police, no arrest has been made in these cases.” He added that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Crime Branch has been constituted to investigate the three cases registered at Vasant Kunj (North) Police Station in Delhi, but no arrests have been made.

His written answer dated August 3 reads, “Delhi Police has reported that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Crime Branch has been constituted to investigate three cases registered at Police Station Vasant Kunj (North), Delhi regarding violence in JawaharLal Nehru University (JNU) Campus in January-2020. The investigation conducted inter-alia includes examination of witnesses; collection and analysis of footages; and examination of identified suspects.”

On January 5, 2020, violence was unleashed on campus when masked assailants, allegedly Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members, entered the university campus and attacked hostel students with sticks, stones and iron rods. The attack started at 6:30 in the evening when masked men and women armed with lathis, rods and sledgehammers entered the campus and attacked JNU Students’ Union representatives. They also entered hostels (girls hostel included) and smashed furniture, beat up students and teachers. More than 30 students were grievously injured, according to media reports, and some were even rushed to AIIMS for treatment.

Soon after the attack, many questions were raised over the alleged inaction by Delhi Police when the violence raged inside one the top universities of the country. In November last year, the Delhi Police had reportedly given itself a clean chit and stated that they could not have entered the campus without the assent of the university authorities. A few screenshots from WhatsApp groups also emerged that pointed to the fact that the whole attack was allegedly planned and orchestrated by the ABVP. Read more about it in this SabrangIndia report.

This attack had taken place against the backdrop of anti CAA-NRC protests, wherein students from different colleges all across the country had been demonstrating against the discriminatory citizenship amendment law that sought to provide citizenship on the basis of religion.

The answer may be read here: 

Related:

What Exactly Happened in JNU ?
JNU violence: Delhi Police ‘probes’ negligence accusations, gives itself a clean chit
Jamia issues press statement condemning JNU violence
Police failure to protect JNU from terror attack needs to be independently investigated

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