Chaos during JNU protest: 28 student union members detained over assault allegation against ABVP; 6 cops hurt

NEW DELHI: At least 28 Jawaharlal Nehru University students were detained during a protest march to the Vasant Kunj police station on Saturday. Six police personnel were injured allegedly during a scuffle with students. The march was called by the Left-affiliated members of JNU Students' Union, who accused police of not acting on a complaint lodged by JNUSU president Nitish Kumar on Thursday.

Kumar had alleged that he was physically assaulted, held hostage and subjected to casteist slurs by the right-wing ABVP members after a university meeting to select the election committee member for the upcoming union polls. ABVP, in turn, had accused Left-affiliated members of violence and making discriminatory remarks against the students from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.The protesters alleged police inaction over the complaint against ABVP members. They claimed that they announced the march to demand registration of an FIR. Police said they had received information about a planned march to the Vasant Kunj North police station by JNU students. Police said they remained in touch with student representatives and assured them of legal action on their demands. However, the students refused to withdraw their call for a "gherao" of the police station, police said.

According to a senior officer, around 6pm, approximately 70-80 students gathered at the west gate of JNU. Police placed barricades to restrict their movement towards Nelson Mandela Marg. "Despite repeated requests, the students forcefully pushed through and broke the barricades, manhandled police personnel, used abusive language and moved onto Nelson Mandela Marg, causing temporary obstruction of traffic," the officer said.To prevent any untoward incident, 28 students - 19 men and nine women, including Kumar, JNUSU vice-president Manisha and general secretary Muntia Fatima, were detained. During the scuffle, six police personnel, four men and two women, sustained injuries and were taken for medical examination.Students alleged that when they tried to proceed, several of them were dragged, beaten and thendetained. Police denied manhandling any student.JNUSU joint secretary Vaibhav Meena, affiliated with ABVP, said, "This incident was an insult to the dignity of JNU. Differences of opinion are natural, but responding to disagreement with violence and spreading regional hatred is against democracy."