Jawaharlal Nehru University violence to be probed by Delhi Police Crime Branch, 3 teams formed

Delhi Police Crime Branch has taken over the investigation into the violence at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). There were violent clashes at JNU on Sunday night (January 5, 2020) and several students were injured. Most of the attackers armed with iron rods and sticks had their faces covered.

According to official sources, the Crime Branch team has been divided into three groups and each has been given a specific area of investigation. One Crime Branch team is inside the JNU campus and is collecting all the CCTV footage from the hostels and other areas of the university. These CCTV footages which show the large-scale violence inside the university campus will prove to be extremely crucial in identifying the attackers.

The second team is busy tracking and arresting the attackers who have already been identified while the third Delhi Police Crime Branch team is collecting the viral videos and details of WhatsApp groups which were used to instigate the students.

But till now not much headway has been made in identifying the masked attackers. Delhi Police officers say they will show the videos of the masked attackers to those who have been arrested to help in the identification process.

There have been a series of allegations and counter-allegations related to the violence between the Left-affiliated students' groups and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). Both the sides have blamed the other of indulging in violence and vitiating the academic atmosphere of JNU.

At least 34 JNU students were injured in the Sunday night violence. They were admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) and Safdarjung Hospital. Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) President Aishe Ghosh and General Secretary Satish Chandra were among the people injured.

With the violence at JNU pitting political parties against each other, the central government has moved in to tackle the situation with Union Home Minister Amit Shah ordering an enquiry a Delhi Police Joint Commissioner level officer. Shah also directed the police to complete the investigating at the earliest and submit a report on the same. The Joint Commissioner of Police Western Range, Delhi Police, Shalini Singh will investigate the JNU incident.