JNU clash: FIR filed, 6 students bound down

Notably, when a person is bound down, they are not legally arrested, but restricted to appear before the police whenever called upon

The Delhi Police on Sunday registered a case and bound down six students, a day after a clash took place at the Jawaharlal Nehru University’s West gate between the police personnel and a group of students comprising members from the students’ union and the Left-affiliated group.

Deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Amit Goel said others were detained under Section 65 (obey police directions) of the Delhi Police (DP) Act and were handed over to their professor after medical examination. (PTI/Archive)

While no arrests were made, the bound down students include JNUSU president Nitish Kumar, 26; vice-president Manisha, 28; general secretary Munteha Fatima, 28; Manikant Patel, 27; Briti Kar, 27; and Saurya Majumdar, 28. The six were among the 28 students who were taken to Kapashera police station from the protest site on Saturday.

Notably, when a person is bound down, they are not legally arrested, but restricted to appear before the police whenever called upon.

Deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Amit Goel said others were detained under Section 65 (obey police directions) of the Delhi Police (DP) Act and were handed over to their professor after medical examination.

The FIR was registered on Sunday at the Vasant Kunj North police station under sections 221 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 121 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from duty) and 132 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of duty) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The protest on Saturday was held to demand an FIR against the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) for the recent alleged violence on campus during general body meetings (GBM).

The All India Students’ Association (AISA) said that JNUSU president Nitish Kumar and several students were “brutally beaten up” and detained by police at the JNU West Gate when they attempted to march to the Vasant Kunj police station.

They also alleged that the police did not interfere when ABVP members attacked the protesting students. “On Saturday, when the students’ procession arrived at the West Gate of JNU, the Delhi Police came down heavily on the peacefully marching students. Not only that, the Delhi Police let loose at least three goons to thrash the students,”the union said in a statement.

“Nitish was brutally beaten up. Abhishek, the councillor of School of Physical Sciences (SPS), was thrashed by the police in his abdomen and private parts, leading to severe internal injuries.He fainted, so had to be rushed to Safdarjung Hospital for treatment,” said a student, adding that many others were also beaten and dragged by the police.

Students stated that the police refused to discharge the 28 detained students, and did not state when they would be released. “The police anyway did not turn our complaint into an FIR, but then they further mistreated us. It was shocking that they kept female students detained for 14 hours, through the night,” said N Sai Balaji, former JNUSU president.

On being asked about the allegations, a senior police officer said on Saturday that despite continued conversation with the student leaders, the students refused to withdraw their call for a gherao of the police station.

“Today, at around 6pm, approximately 70–80 students gathered at the West Gate of JNU. Police barricades were placed to restrict their movement towards Nelson Mandela Marg. However, despite repeated requests, the students forcefully pushed through and broke the barricades, manhandled police personnel, used abusive language, and came onto Nelson Mandela Marg, leading to temporary obstruction of traffic,” the officer had said on Saturday.