The Delhi police on Saturday said they had detained 28 students from the Jawaharlal Nehru University amid their protest march to the Vasant Kunj police station in South Delhi.
The students who were detained alleged that they were assaulted by the police, PTI reported. The protest by the Left-affiliated student groups was planned for demanding the registration of an FIR against ABVP on allegations of violence.
Meanwhile, police said protestors and broken barricades and injured security personnel. The students claimed they had been beaten up by the police at the JNU West Gate.
Those detained include JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) president Nitish Kumar, Vice President Manisha, and General Secretary Munteha Fatima, NDTV reported.
The group of students said they had taken out the protest march after no action was taken against members of the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), who allegedly assaulted some students associated with them, according to NDTV.
The All India Students' Association (AISA) alleged that the JNUSU president and several other students had been “brutally beaten up” at the JNU West Gate when they attempted to march to the police station, PTI reported.
“JNUSU president and other students were brutalised by Delhi Police while demanding FIR against ABVP's violence across School GBMs,” the AISA said in a statement
{{/usCountry}}“JNUSU president and other students were brutalised by Delhi Police while demanding FIR against ABVP's violence across School GBMs,” the AISA said in a statement
{{/usCountry}}Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Amit Goel, however, denied the allegations, saying that around 70 to 80 students had started a march from the campus at 6 pm to gherao the Vasant Kunj police station. Goel said the students had “broke police barricades, manhandled personnel, and obstructed traffic” on the Nelson Mandela Marg.
“A total of 28 students, including JNUSU office bearers, were detained to prevent any untoward incident,” PTI quoted him as saying. Goel added that six police personnel had been injured in the incident.
The incident comes after violence took place during a general body meeting (GBM) of the School of Social Sciences on Friday. The Left-affiliated students alleged that ABVP members had grabbed a woman student by the throat and assaulted some others. However, the ABVP claimed that the Left-affiliated students had attacked a woman student and beaten up others, NDTV reported.
The elections for the JNU Students' Union is expected to be held next month. In a statement, the All India Students’ Association (AISA) said ABVP would face defeat in the elections.
“Due to this, their (ABVP’s) defeat is guaranteed this election. This is the reason they are resorting to violence to disrupt the electoral process,” India Today cited the AISA statement as saying.