The Delhi Police on Thursday detained several students of Jamia Millia Islamia university during protests against the administration’s show-cause notices to students, The Indian Express reported. The students were released after about 12 hours.

The students alleged that the police manhandled them while taking them in custody, and that they were not allowed to contact their families.

The notices were issued last year to two PhD scholars for holding a demonstration on December 15 to mark the fifth anniversary of violence on campus during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act movement. It was held under the banner of “Jamia Resistance Day”.

The university accused the students of vandalising property. The students denied the claims and alleged that over 20 of them were detained.

Since Monday, several students led by the Left-affiliated All India Students’ Association have been protesting against the show-cause notices, The Hindu reported.

The protesters also demanded the revocation of a November memorandum restricting meetings, gatherings, protests and slogans on campus without prior administrative approval.

The university’s disciplinary committee is scheduled to review the role of the two PhD scholars in organising “Jamia Resistance Day” at a meeting on February 25.

Protesting students said they were forced to leave the campus early on Thursday morning and detained by the police at around 5 am. They said the students were then taken to various police stations in South East Delhi, The Indian Express reported.

The All India Students’ Association, in an official statement, also alleged police brutality during the detention.

“We removed over 10 students at around 4 am after receiving a request from the university administration,” an unidentified police official was quoted as saying by The Times of India. “Further, we have deployed heavy police security outside the campus to maintain law and order.”

The university said in a statement: “Taking preventive measures, today morning the university administration and the Proctorial team removed the students from the site of the protest and they have been evicted from the campus.”

The university administration alleged that a “handful of students” had vandalised university property, including the central canteen and damaged the security advisor’s gate, prompting action. The students were also accused of violating other university rules and carrying “objectionable contraband items”.

The All India Forum for Right to Education, a coalition of students, teachers, academicians and democratic organisations said it “condemns such undemocratic intervention by police and university administration in the democratic struggles of the students” and called for the immediate and unconditional release of all detainees.