100 PCR calls, 3-hr wait, cops still inactive

New Delhi: While the Jawaharlal Nehru University administration under V-C Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar lost no time to lodge two police complaints naming injured JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh, the administration is yet to file a police complaint with respect to the Sunday evening assault inside the campus, in which Ghosh herself was brutally attacked by a "masked mob".

This comes after several members of the ABVP have been identified as carrying weapons and wearing masks inside the campus at the time of the attacks and a video retweeted by the V-C himself showing an ABVP member launching an attack on an AISA member. Several such questions have emerged in the last three days, including why the Delhi Police waited to enter the campus as the "masked mob" ran amok inside the campus.

According to a DCP-rank officer of the Delhi Police, nearly 100 PCR calls were received about the attacks inside before they entered the gate. In fact, between 4 pm and 5 pm on Sunday, 46 PCR calls were made but the Delhi Police waited for permission to enter the campus. The JNU administration has claimed that they got to know of the violence around 4:30 pm and "immediately" told police but police said they got permission only after 7:30 pm. In contrast, the Delhi Police had entered Jamia Millia Islamia without permission of the competent authority, claiming it had the authority to do so to "maintain law and order".

Furthermore, even after an ABVP office bearer admitting to two of their members being present inside the campus with weapons and that several ABVP members, including herself, were part of WhatsApp groups where the attacks can purportedly be seen being organised, the police are yet to make any arrests or detentions. In fact, a member of Hindu Raksha Dal has also claimed responsibility for the attacks but is yet to be arrested or questioned.

In addition, several videos and eyewitness accounts have shown the "masked attackers" being allowed to leave the campus on Sunday night, after the Police had reached the spot and in one instance as the police stood a few hundred metres away.

Moreover, police have asked people to pass on video footage of the incident to help them, but all they have to go on so far are viral videos with no original source videos to look into, leading to questions of how they will verify the viral videos without a forensic examination.