Chief Proctor was part of WhatsApp group discussing attacks

New Delhi: A day after several members of the ABVP started abandoning WhatsApp groups where the alleged planned attack inside the Jawaharlal Nehru Campus was purportedly organised, it has come to light that the University's Chief Proctor, Dhananjay Singh was also part of one of these chat groups called "Friends of RSS", where messages inciting violence against what they called "left students" can be seen in the hours leading up to the attacks.

In fact, one other professor, teaching at a Delhi University affiliated college was also found to be part of one of the chat groups where members could be seen coordinating what seemed like an assault on the students inside the university campus at the time. Messages in the Friends of RSS group included ones that instructed other members where they could bring outsiders in from. Some messages informed that two gates were open from where they could enter the campus.

When contacted, Singh confirmed that he was part of the Friends of RSS WhatsApp group but quickly distanced himself from the messages seen in the chat group saying, "I was added to the group by someone and I did not even notice it. I was rarely ever active on such groups and I left the group as soon as some students informed me about what the messages in the group were describing," he said. Singh also added that no one had ever raised doubts about his integrity.

Singh said that he was running around the campus trying to consolidate security arrangements for the students under attack and added that network problems in the university campus had not even allowed him to see or receive WhatsApp messages on his phone. "Around 8:30 pm, I was informed by some of my students about the group's screenshot and I immediately left the group," he said.

Meanwhile, another professor teaching at a DU-affiliated college was also found to be a member in one of the WhatsApp groups, which had messages like "Saalon ko hostel mein ghush ke tode" while the attacks were allegedly underway at Sabarmati Hostel.

While it is clear that at least two people involved in the chat groups were associated with the ABVP, namely Yogendra Shaurya Bhardwaj and Vikas Patel, with the former creating another group called Unity Against Left. One other ABVP member, Anima Sonkar was also an administrator of the group and said that she was added to the group by someone but she left it because she claimed to find the group's activities strange. However, as of 8:31 pm on Sunday, she was still part of the group. The police have said that they will look into WhatsApp groups that propped up in the hours before the assault.