JNU violence: Many masked attackers identified, no arrests yet
New Delhi : One day after masked men attacked JNU students and staff with iron rods, sledgehammers and stones, leaving at least 35 people injured in the incident, the Delhi Police have identified some of the attackers but no arrest have been made till last reports.
The campus environment had been tensed since the last evening. Union Minister Amit Shah spoke to the Delhi police chief on Sunday and has sought a report on the actions being taken by them. Ami Shah also spoke to Anil Baijal, the Lieutenant Governor on Delhi this morning and asked him to get in touch with the university representatives.
Several students and faculty members of JNU have alleged that the police personnel and private security guards present on the campus remained "mute spectators" as the masked attackers went on the rampage.
The Delhi Police have clubbed several reports they received since yesterday and filed one FIR in the matter. "We are using the viral screen shots on social media and the CCTV footage to identify the attackers," senior police officer Devender Arya told NDTV.
Eyewitnesses said the 50-odd goons entered the campus around 6.30 pm on Sunday. The students' union tweeted that the attackers were "unknown ABVP goons" and were even beating up professors trying to protect students. JNUSU vice-president Saket Moon said, "The police have been in the campus since afternoon, but they have done nothing". Others pointed to the delay in calling in the police and their failure to make any arrest.
Senior union ministers S Jaishankar and Nirmala Sitharaman, both alumni of JNU, too condemned the violence. Sitharaman said the pictures of violence were horrifying and asserted that the government wants universities to be safe spaces for all students.
"We condemn the violence at JNU. This needs to be investigated. The Congress, communists, the Aam Aadmi Party and some elements want to create an environment of violence in universities across the country," Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Sunday.
