Police quizzes Aishe; Jamia may file FIR against police

Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) president Aishe Ghosh and two other students were questioned by Delhi Police on Monday in connection with the January 5 violence in the campus, three days after they were named as "suspects".

Separately, students in Jamia Millia Islamia staged a protest at Vice-Chancellor Najma Akthar's office demanding action against Delhi Police, prompting her to announce that the varsity will explore the possibility of moving the court to file a case against "police brutality" on campus last month.

In JNU, a Delhi Police Crime Branch team visited the campus and questioned Ghosh and two students Pankaj Mishra and Vasker Vijay Mech, who are affiliated to Left students' organisations.

Delhi Police's press conference on Friday had blamed the Left outfits for the violence by "masked goons" on January 5, saying it was a fallout of the former's protest in the campus. It had also faced flak for not naming ABVP in the press conference as well making goof-up of releasing a photograph of one Shiv Poojan Mandal, an ABVP activist, and identifying him as Vikas Patel, who is also from the saffron student outfit. Later, the police corrected the picture by releasing the real photo of Patel.

It was also later identified a girl student, belonging to ABVP who wore a muffler to hide her face, as Komal Sharma besides 37 members of a WhatsApp group 'Unity Against Left', which was formed just before the violence in JNU on January 5 evening.

Police has also served notices to Sharma as well as Akshat Awasthi and Rohit Shah, who are ABVP activists who featured in a sting operation conducted by a TV news channel, have also been served notices to join the investigation. ABVP has denied that they are its activists.

In Jamia, students broke open the main gate to enter the office premises of Vice-Chancellor, demanding an FIR against the Delhi Police. Students asked why an FIR was not filed against police when it lay siege to the campus and even targeted the library on December 15 last year.

Trying to pacify the students, Akthar announced that they will explore the possibility of moving the court for registration of an FIR against the "police brutality". She said the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is already conducting an investigation into the police action against the students.

"A decision has also been taken that the administration will explore the possibility of moving the court for registration of FIR in the December 15, 2019 police brutality in the university library case at the earliest. The university has already followed all possible steps for the registration of FIR. It has given its complaint to SHO Jamia Nagar and it's copied to CP Delhi and DCP South East. University has also written letters to Joint CP Southern Range and DCP Crime for the registration of FIR earlier," the statement said.

Following students' demand, the Akthar in consultation with the Deans, Heads of Departments and other officials, announced that the ongoing semester exams stand cancelled till further notice. "New schedule will be declared later," the statement added.