Three students have been expelled by Dr BR Ambedkar University Delhi for allegedly trying to physically assault the vice chancellor and attack the registrar’s official car during a protest on April 11.

Two more students have been barred from entering the campuses of the university and seeking admission for higher studies there. The university issued the orders on September 25.

The students who have been expelled are Sharanya Verma, Shefali and Shubhojeet Dey. Those who have been barred from the university campuses are Ajay VS and Keerthana Lakshmi.

Speaking to Scroll, Dey alleged that the university’s actions were “completely malafide” and it had no evidence to back their claims. He denied that the protesters tried to assault the vice chancellor, and claimed that on the contrary, the students were beaten up by security guards.

Aditya Pratap Singh, the university’s public relations officer, said that the matter is sub judice. “As the matter is in court, no official statement can be given on it,” he told Scroll. “We must await the outcome of the court proceedings.”

The five students on April 11 took part in a protest seeking that the suspension of three others for allegedly highlighting a ragging-related suicide attempt of a second-year student be revoked. The three students – Nadia, Anan and Harsh – were suspended on March 5 on allegations of having tarnished the university’s image, The Quint reported.

The news outlet had quoted Nadia as having alleged that the university tried to brush the matter off as “a small, minuscule incident that was blown out of proportion”.

The university alleged that the five students who were expelled on September 25 had “obstructed the entry/exit of the university staff members at the main gate and forcibly pushed the security staff, attempted to assault physically the vice chancellor and registrar’s official car leading to damage to public property”.

The university claimed that Verma, Shefali and Dey had not engaged in peaceful protests, but were involved in an “organised and planned violent action”.

Allegations baseless, says protester

Dey, however, told Scroll that there was no basis to the university’s allegations. “The authorities themselves got security officials to lock the gates with a chain and lock, as could be seen in CCTV [security camera] footage,” he said. “We were outside the gates, and were only seeking to meet the vice chancellor.”

Dey alleged that the security personnel beat up the protesting students, and that male guards attacked some of the female students. “One of the guards even used a baton to choke me,” he alleged.

From March 5 to April 11, there had been a series of protests seeking the suspension of Nadia, Anan and Harsh be revoked, Dey said.

“On April 7, some students started a hunger strike,” he told Scroll. “On the fourth day, one of them fell unconscious. That was when we sought to meet the vice chancellor urgently, but were stopped from doing so.”

Dey said that the university’s own norms state that disciplinary proceedings in such cases should be completed in three months.

“Our [expulsion] order itself came after five months,” he said. “The university ensured that the process itself was the punishment for us.”

The students are planning to approach the Delhi High Court to contest the university’s actions, Dey said.