JNU violence: Delhi Police questions 3 JNU students including Aishe Ghosh; students, teachers boycott classes

20:44 January 13

Delhi Police questions 3 JNU students including Aishe Ghosh; students, teachers boycott classes

The Delhi Police questioned three JNU students, including JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh, in connection with the January 5 violence on campus, even as students and teachers boycotted classes on the opening day of the winter semester.

Ghosh is among the seven out of the total nine suspects, who are from Left-leaning student organisations while two suspects are from the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). 

"They sought my version of events. They asked me about my complaint. I also asked why they did not register an FIR on the complaint filed by me," Ghosh said.

Responding to a plea filed by JNU professors, the Delhi Police also informed the Delhi High Court that it has asked the university administration to preserve and hand over the CCTV footage of the violence but has not yet received any response from the university.

The police said that it has also written to WhatsApp to preserve data, including messages, pictures, videos and phone numbers of members, of two groups -- 'Unity Against Left' and 'Friends of RSS' -- on the social networking platform on which the attack was allegedly coordinated.

According to the police, Akshat Awasthi and Rohit Shah, who featured in a sting operation conducted by a TV news channel, have also been served with notices to join the investigation.

However, the ABVP has denied that the two are their members.

17:06 January 13

It was Naxal attack on JNU, not student protest: ABVP Gen Secretary 

National General Secy of ABVP Nidhi Tripathi, said that it'll be wrong to call the movement a student protest against the fee hike. It was a Naxal attack on JNU. Its script was written on 28 Oct 2019 & it culminated, through violence, on 5 Jan 2020 where blood was shed & limbs were broken. 

She further said that Discussions are being held on JNU violence but it's restricted to 5 Jan only.

"It'll have to be seen that the violence is not confined to 5 Jan only, it'll have to be seen that what transpired on campus from 28 Oct 2019 to 5 Jan 2020," added Tripathi.

16:59 January 13

Delhi Police questions JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh

Delhi Police are questioning Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) president Aishe Ghosh, in connection with 5 January JNU violence case.

16:56 January 13

BJP orchestrated assault on JNU: Sonia Gandhi 

Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi said that the nation has watched in horror at the BJP-orchestrated assault on JNU coming so soon after what happened in Jamia, BHU, Allahabad University and AMU and other institutions of higher learning in other parts of the country.

"The Modi-Shah Government stands totally exposed for its inability to govern and to provide security to the people," said Gandhi.

15:07 January 13

JNU students, teachers boycott classes over fee hike issue

The students and teachers of the Jawaharlal Nehru University boycotted classes amid stand-off with the administration over the fee hike issue. The classes were supposed to begin today, but could not start due to the collective boycott.

14:14 January 13

JNU administration asks teachers to resume classes

The JNU administration issued an advisory to teachers to resume their classes in the interest of students. The advisory was issued after two JNU Teachers' Association officer bearers announced a "non cooperation" plan, the varsity said. 

"The above call for 'non-cooperation' not only goes against the efforts of the administration for restoration of normalcy in the campus and resumption of academic activities but also reflects the intention of JNUTA to disrupt normal functioning of the university," the varsity said in its advisory. 

Thousands of students have already registered for the 2020 Winter Semester and others are in the process of doing their registration, it said.

14:11 January 13

Delhi Police's Crime Branch at JNU to probe Jan 5 violence

A team of Delhi Police's Crime Branch is at Jawaharlal Nehru University to probe the violence on campus on January 5, officials said. One of the nine people identified and named by the Delhi Police during its earlier press conference, Pankaj Mishra, has also joined the probe, they said. Akshat Awasthi and Rohit Shah, who featured in a sting operation conducted by a TV news channel, have also been served notices to join the investigation. 

12:17 January 13

Delhi HC seeks response of WhatsApp, police regarding evidence

The Delhi High Court sought response of the city police, Delhi government, WhatsApp Inc, Google Inc and Apple Inc on a plea of three JNU professors to preserve data, CCTV footage and other evidence relating to the January 5 violence on the varsity campus. The Delhi Police informed the court that it has asked the JNU administration to preserve and hand over CCTV footage of the violence.

Justice Brijesh Sethi listed the matter for further hearing on Tuesday.

The court was told by Delhi government Standing Counsel (criminal) Rahul Mehra that the police has not yet received any response from the university administration. The counsel said police has also written to WhatsApp to preserve data of two groups "Unity Against Left" and "Friends of RSS" including messages, pictures and videos and phone numbers of members, related to JNU violence incident.

The petition was filed by JNU professors Ameet Parameswaran, Atul Sood and Shukla Vinayak Sawant seeking necessary directions to the Delhi Police Commissioner and Delhi government. The petition also sought direction to the Delhi Police to retrieve all CCTV footage of JNU campus. 

09:46 January 13

Cops ask nine suspects to join investigation from today

"Those who have been served notice by the Police will be interrogated in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). Nine people have been told to join the investigation from today," Delhi Police sources were quoted by a news agency.

09:09 January 13

Left creating violent atmosphere in campuses: Academics to PM

Over 200 academics in the country, including university vice chancellors, have written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging that the left wing is sponsoring violence in campuses in the name of student politics

They, dated January 11 and signed by 208 vice-chancellors, professors and academics, also said that efforts are being made by the left activists to engulf the campuses in a "fire of violence".

The academics said that the chaotic activities of left activists is a hindrance in organizing any kind of programs from study and learning to exchange of ideas.

09:00 January 13

Leftists beat up fellow students: Union Minister

Condemning the violence in JNU on January 5, Union Minister Ashwini Choubey said, "The truth is now out that people behind the mask were leftists. It is unfortunate that they had beaten up their fellow students. Political parties instigating violence among youth is very unfortunate."

08:20 January 13

Registration of 300 students blocked due to 'fake Proctor inquiries', claims JNUSU

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) has alleged that the varsity administration has blocked the registration of 300 students on the basis of 'fake Proctor inquiries'. The union had on Saturday asked students of the university to pay their academic tuition fee but not the hiked hostel fee.

"Today the Vice Chancellor first blocked the fee payment portal and then blocked the payment of tuition fees. It is clear that the VC was lying through the teeth when he said students want to register but are not being allowed to by protesters," JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh said, adding that the VC has also blocked the registration of 300 students based on fake proctor enquiries which are not even complete.

"The truth is that it is the administration which does not want students to register and is blocking their registration," she said.

08:14 January 13

'Violence reminded me of Nazi Germany,' Tharoor expresses solidarity with students

After visiting Jamia Millia Islamia and Shaheen Bagh, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor travelled in metro to reach JNU where he addressed the students and condemned the violence by a masked mob on January 5.

"What happened on January 5 was inexcusable. As a parent I feel the anguish that your parents must have suffered seeing the way in which all of you students were assaulted with impunity by masked thugs and goons brought here in some cases from other campuses," Tharoor said.

"What they did, with the police waiting outside the gates, with a reticence that they could not show in Jamia on December 15. The police stood by while others came and did the dirty work of assaulting you," he added.

Tharoor said that the recent events are not "what India is about" and claimed that such violence was never allowed to happen before.

"The worst things are, that it reminded students of history like myself of events in Nazi Germany in the 1930s when sadly the same tactic was employed as young troopers of the ruling party marched into several campuses and assaulted several students," Tharoor said.

07:37 January 13

Cops send notices to 49 people, 3 suspects to be questioned today

New Delhi:The Delhi Police's crime branch probing the JNU violence said on Sunday that it has sent notices to 49 people, including Akshat Awasthi and Rohit Shah who featured in a sting operation conducted by a TV news channel, to join the investigation.

Awasthi and Shah are first-year students of Jawaharlal Nehru University.

They have been sent notices to join the probe, officials said.

When police contacted Awasthi and Shah, they said they will join the probe.

Though their phones were later found to be switched off, their locations have been traced and the two will be questioned in connection with their alleged involved in the violence on campus on January 5, the police said.

While Awasthi belongs to Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, Shah is a resident of Munirka area in Delhi, they added.

Read: JNU violence: Police release pics of 9 suspects, including JNUSU prez

Besides them, police have identified as Komal Sharma the masked woman, wearing a check shirt, light blue scarf and carrying a stick, who was seen in the purported videos of the violence shared on social media.

Sharma, who is a student of Daulat Ram College, has also been sent a notice to join the probe, the police said, adding her phone was found to be switched off since Saturday night.

According to police, the server room was vandalised on January 4 following which the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team, which visited to collect evidence on Saturday, could not retrieve the data.

The FSL team will visit the campus on Monday to retrieve data from the server since they are operational now, a senior police official said.

There have been reports that students have received emails from the server room on January 4 and 5, the source of those emails will also be looked into, he said.

Addressing a press conference, the police had on Friday claimed that nine students, seven of whom are from Left-leaning bodies including JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh, were identified as suspects in the violence on the varsity campus.

Read: 'Have evidence of how I was attacked,' Aishe refutes police charge

Among the nine, the police will question three of them on Monday.

The three women who have been served notices will be questioned by a lady official at a place comfortable for them, an official said.

All the nine people have been sent notices to join the probe via email and whatsapp, police said.

While Panjak Mishra has been asked to join the probe at 11.30 pm today at the Admin Block, Dolan Samanta and Sucheta Talukdar will be joining the probe on Tuesday, the official said.

Chunchun Kumar has been called to join the probe on January 15, he said.

JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh has also been sent notice to join the probe but police have not received a response from her yet, he added.

A total of 60 people were part of the Whatsapp group, 'Unity Against Left', believed to have been created while the violence escalated on the JNU campus.

Among them addresses of 37 people have been traced and notices have been sent to them to join the probe, police said.

Read: Police probe shows Left involved in JNU violence: Javadekar