LPU violence: Most of vandals varsity students, finds police probe; 9 held so far

Police have nabbed nine accused in the case, of which seven, including a minor, are students of the university. In all, 20 accused have been nominated in different FIRs

As Punjab Police launched a crackdown on the vandals involved in the recent violence at Lovely Professional University, police probe has found that the majority of the arrested accused are students of the varsity.

The violence erupted on September 26 after rumours spread that a student had been raped on the LPU campus. (HT)

Police have nabbed nine accused in the case, of which seven, including a minor, are students of the university. In all, 20 accused have been nominated in different FIRs.

The LPU management has maintained since Day 1 that masked outsiders carried out the vandalism of varsity infrastructure after breaking into the campus with sharp-edged weapons and iron rods.

The violence broke out on September 26 after unverified reports circulated alleging that an outsider had raped a female student at the university.

A masked mob allegedly vandalised university property, set fire to campus buildings and damaged police vehicles. Protesters also allegedly pelted police personnel with stones and glass bottles before moving onto the Amritsar-Delhi National Highway (NH-44)

Jalandhar Range DIG Naveen Singla said five of the arrested accused—James Dahiya of Sonepat, Haryana, Gagandeep Singh and Jasmeet Singh, both from Phagwara; and Antriksh Dutta and Sahil Singh from Jammu—were named in the FIR registered at the Satnampura police station.

The other four accused, identified as Ashutosh of Hamirpur in Uttar Pradesh, Krishna Kumar and Bhavishya Karan from Maharashtra, have been booked under Sections 109 (attempt to murder), 132 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 221 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 326 and 324 of the BNS at the Sadar Phagwara police station

“Many of these accused are from the Law Gate area outside the LPU campus, where an ecosystem of students and alumni exists, and they actively participated in the violent acts,” DIG Singla said.

He added that the special investigation team (SIT) had formed multiple teams and scanned digital evidence from various sources, including social media platforms, news channels, and CCTV footage from LPU and other sources, to identify the accused involved in arson, rioting, robbery, unprovoked lethal attack on police force, blockading the national highway and vandalising the LPU infrastructure.

Meanwhile, a senior official, seeking anonymity, said most of the accused students were staying in paying guest accommodations in the Law Gate area.

Students with criminal tendency on radar, says DIG

DIG Singla said police were working to identify students with criminal tendencies after their involvement in acts of violence.

“We are not taking any action against the peaceful protesters, but those with a criminal mindset will not be spared and brought to book as per law. Two of the accused, Krishan Kumar and Bhavishya Karan, allegedly put out a video on social media after attacking the police party with stones and setting ablaze vehicles, claiming that they got justice,” he said.

Singla added that in another incident, two other accused, Antriksh Dutta and Sahil Singh, who were close friends of social media influencer Mohammad Farhat, were seen ransacking LPU infrastructure.

“Farhat, who is already nominated in the FIR, was the first to enter the DSW building, where the vandals ran amok and went on a rampage spree,” he said.

“There are some students, who remained the face of peaceful protests during the day and indulged in arson and vandalism at night. The arrests were made following a meticulous probe from all angles and the culprits won’t be spared. A juvenile, who climbed atop a decommissioned MiG-23, was sent to a juvenile home,” he said.

‘No corroborative evidence found so far to establish rape allegation’

DIG Singla said the SIT formed to investigate the rape allegation had examined multiple CCTV footages and recorded statements of members of the student action committee, female students, wardens and male staff.

“But no corroborative evidence has been found so far to establish that a rape took place or to identify a victim. We are not coming to any conclusion, but the investigation is still underway,” Singla said.

Kapurthala police had registered a rape case under Section 64 of the BNS against unidentified suspects following the initial allegations.

Singla said several teams were also working to verify an unverified Reddit post alleging that a female LPU student had been raped, which went viral on social media. “We will update once we get any concrete evidence,” he said.