Around 50 masked attackers barged into JNU campus last night
Screenshots from social media posts that went viral and CCTV footage are being used to identify the masked goons who wreaked havoc across Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University late last night, Delhi Police said today. The cops, criticised over their response to an attack that left more than 30 injured, according to Delhi Police sources, filed a single FIR (first information report) this morning that includes "multiple complaints".
Delhi Police have also said the case has been handed over to the Crime Branch but no arrests have been made till now. The FIR has been filed under sections of the charges relating to rioting and damage of public property.
"We have received complaints from both sides and are investigating. We have registered an FIR and some people have been identified," Delhi Police said today, adding that identification of suspects was being done based on CCTV footage and screenshots from social media posts that have gone viral.
The police have said complaints have been received from both the ABVP (a student wing linked to the ruling BJP) and Left-backed student groups, each of which has blamed the other for the violence.
"We are verifying the details provided by these students," a police officer from Delhi's Vasant Kunj Police Station told news agency IANS.
According to IANS cops also detained four people near the North Gate of the university as they were allegedly trying to flee. "They are being interrogated ... credentials being checked," the officer said.
Furious JNU students, already at odds with Delhi Police over their role in last month's crackdown of Jamia Millia Islamia students protesting the controversial citizenship law, have alleged the cops did nothing to reign in the brutal attack.
"The police had been in the campus since afternoon, but they did nothing," Saket Moon, Vice President of the JNU Students Union, said after the attack.
Aishe Ghosh, President of the JNU Students Union, was among the injured
A flag march was conducted by cops hours after the violence; they were met with furious students shouting "Delhi Police, go back". Students also alleged ambulances were stopped from entering.
However, Delhi Police say they "arrived on time and took control of the situation".
The cops were called in by JNU Registrar Pramod Kumar "to maintain order", according to news agency PTI. "This is the moment to remain calm and be on the alert. Efforts are already being made to tackle the miscreants," he added.
A day after masked goons armed with iron rods, sledgehammers and bottles barged into Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University and went on a brutal rampage, questions have been raised on the role of the police and on details that have emerged like the streetlights going off during the worst of the attack. Around 50 attackers in masks, carrying weapons, not just entered the campus but had a free run for three hours, unstopped by either the police or the administration.
With input from PTI, IANS