A day after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) identified nine suspects involved in the JNU violence, the sources in the Delhi Police on Saturday said that the SIT has identified 37 more suspects from a “WhatsApp” group that was created during the violence on the campus.
Meanwhile, the JNU administration on Saturday conducted security audit of hostels to assess how many outsiders and unauthorised persons are staying on the campus. Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar met students on the campus and rued that some activist students backed by a group of teachers have defiled the peaceful atmosphere, forcing some students to vacate hostels.
He also said that the JNU administration has taken adequate steps to ensure the safety and security of the students residing on the campus.
However, the JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) accused the police of inaction.
According to a police source, the 37 suspects identified do not belong to any political group active in JNU. “Those identified are students of JNU who were in favour of the semester registration process and wanted to enroll themselves. The group had 60 members and 37 of them have been identified,” said a source.
“These identified persons will be called for questioning and after that it will be ascertained whether they are associated with any student outfit,” said the source.
ABVP’s secretary, JNU unit, Manish Jangid, who had earlier alleged that he was attacked by Left-wing students, was part of “Unity Against Left” WhatsApp group and some other ABVP members were also in this group,” said another source. However, Jangid claimed that on January 5, after he was attacked by some people, his phone broke and he had no knowledge about being added to that group.
“When my phone got repaired, then only I came to know I have been added to that group,” Jangid said.
In a letter sent to hostel wardens, Umesh Kadam, dean of students, asked them to notify all hostel residents to “follow the rules regarding having guests in the hostel room as per the procedures and rules of IHA and provide the necessary details in the forms accordingly.”
In case, any outsider/un-authorised student/guest is found staying in the rooms, necessary action will be initiated against the resident student as per Inter-Hall Administration (IHA) rules and the details of such guests shall be forwarded to the Station House Officer, Police Station, Vasant Kunj North, New Delhi, the notice stated.
