3 students held in B’luru over slogans on Pak, later released

In another video, a group of students is seen surrounding the students and forcing them to apologise and shout ‘Jaya Karnataka Maate’ and ‘Vande Bharat’ slogans. The boy who was in the viral video told the students: “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. Jai Hind, Jai Karnataka”

Three students of a private engineering college in Bengaluru were arrested after a video of them shouting “Pakistan Zindabad” went viral on social media, police said on Saturday.

The incident took place at a private engineering college in Bengaluru on Thursday and a video clip of it has been doing the rounds on social media. The purported video showed a boy and a girl shouting the slogan; another student recorded the video, police said (HT Archives)

The students, suspended by their college authority, were later released on bail.

The incident reportedly took place at New Horizon College of Engineering on Thursday and a video clip of it has been doing the rounds on social media. The purported video showed a boy and a girl shouting the slogan; another student recorded the video, police said. The one who was recording was allegedly heard asking them to shout the slogan.

In another video, a group of students are seen surrounding the students and forcing them to apologise and shout ‘Jaya Karnataka Maate’ and ‘Vande Bharat’ slogans. Some were even heard hurling expletives at the two. The boy who was in the viral video told the students: “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. Jai Hind, Jai Karnataka.”

A first information report (FIR) has been filed against the three at the Marathahalli police station under sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) and 505(1)B (with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public) of the Indian Penal Code. They were released later on station bail, police said. The three, who were first-year engineering students, were suspended by the college till November 30.

A senior police officer who questioned the students said that the primary investigation did not reveal any connection with banned or Pakistan-based outfits or any other “ill intentions”. “They shouted the slogans just for fun. We will question them further since there was a clash over the slogan,” the officer who didn’t want to be named said.

In a similar case, on February 20, 2020, a 19-year-old activist Amulya Leona was arrested on sedition charges for shouting “Pakistan zindabad” during a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA, in Bengaluru. She spent 110 days in jail before getting bail.