JOIN USDelhi Police Commissioner Bhim Sain Bassi on Saturday denied allegations that the force was being “saffronised” by the central government. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia have made the allegations.
Defending strict action in the controversial Jawaharlal Nehru University event, Bassi said that police act without any extraneous influence. “We are firmly committed to the rule of law and do not entertain any malice towards anyone,” he told the media.
Bassi also warned students from indulging in anti-national activities and said that punishment ranges from three years to life imprisonment. The commissioner has further denied allegations of police personnel entering girls’ hostels.
“These are totally incorrect, malicious and mischievous,” Bassi said.Police said JNU Students’ Union President Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested and raids were conducted in the campus on Friday and Saturday only after obtaining permission from Vice Chancellor M Jagdeesh Kumar.
Multiple letters have been sent to the VC by Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Prem Nath.
Currently, police are conducting raids across the capital to arrest five other students — Omar Khalid, Anant Prakash, Rama Naga, Ashutosh and Anirban. The investigating officers say that the five are absconding from the campus. On Saturday, Bassi also met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and submitted a status report on the issue. Police stated that on February 9, which was 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru’s third death anniversary, the PCR got a call of unrest on campus.
According to an FIR in the case, students were holding controversial and anti-national posters. “There was a clash between two groups at Sabarmati dhaba around 5 pm,” the report states.
The FIR said that JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid were leading around 80-90 students and there were 15-20 women students. The FIR added that pro-Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat slogans were being raised with a section of students sloganeering “Pakistan Zindabad”.