Delhi: A year on, no police officer found guilty for clashes at Jamia

On the evening of December 15, 2019, Delhi Police entered the university campus, fired tear gas shells and baton-charged students and some locals inside after violence broke out near the university.

Delhi Police has decided to absolve its personnel of charges that they had used excess force when they stormed the Jamia Milia Islamia campus on December 15 last year, officers familiar with the findings of a probe into the incident said, adding that the statements of around 60 witnesses were recorded and CCTV camera footage from the spot was analysed before reaching this decision.

Damaged vehicles strewn near Jamia Millia Islamia University area following violence that erupted against Citizenship Amendment Act, in New Delhi on Dec. 15, 2019. (PTI)

An inquiry into the incident was ordered after images of purported police brutality on the campus that evening went viral on social media. Separately, the police arrested 22 persons for the violence that broke out in and around the university on December 13 and December 15.

Officers privy to the details of the probe said on condition of anonymity that the crime branch inquiry committee did not find any officer guilty, prima facie (at first sight), and has not recommended action against its personnel. The 22 arrested persons, which include locals (about three are students such as Sharjeel Imam and Asif Iqbal Tanha) have been charged under sections of rioting, damaging public property, criminal conspiracy, obstructing public servant in discharge of his/her duty.

The police are likely to submit the findings of the inquiry report to the Delhi high court, which is hearing several pleas filed by civil society groups seeking action against the police.

On the evening of December 15, 2019, Delhi Police entered the university campus, fired tear gas shells and baton-charged students and some locals inside after violence broke out near the university. Police said at the time that the rioters, a majority of whom were local residents, had entered the campus and hurled stones from inside.

Police defended the decision to enter the campus, saying it was taken in order to catch the rioters.

After the incident, however, several videos surfaced on social media in which police teams were seen breaking CCTV cameras, beating students, and firing tear gas shells on the campus, particularly its central library.

HT has learnt from many senior police officers that the crime branch was ordered to start a probe because it involved verifying CCTV camera footage and analysing multiple videos posted on social media groups. Within the Delhi Police, the crime branch functions as a unit that’s separate from the local force.

Unlike other inquiry proceedings in the past, when officers had been transferred from their place of posting while an investigation into a police action was underway, no officer was transferred or rebuked for their involvement in alleged brutality on the Jamia campus.

HT contacted the crime branch chief special commissioner of police, Praveer Ranjan, for a response, but received no response despite repeated text messages and phone calls. Police spokesperson Eish Singhal, also deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi), said: “ The case is sub-judice. The courts are hearing the matter.”

A crime branch officer, who did not wish to be named, said: “No one was indicted in the inquiry because the findings did not support the allegations. There is CCTV footage of the incident, which shows rioters pelting stones from inside the campus. There are also videos of police urging rioters to come out peacefully or not indulge in any violence. Even the National Rights Human Commission did not find fault in police’s act of entering the university.”

A university spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.

Retired Indian Police Service officer Vikram Singh, who was the director general of Uttar Pradesh police between 2007 and 2009, said that unlike other cases, the Jamia violence case should have been dealt with differently.

“Police should have finished their inquiry and come public with their findings within a month or 90 days at the most... This case involved students. It does not take more than a month to complete inquiry in such cases. People have the right to know,” Singh.