Students of Madras University continued their protest on Tuesday against the amended Citizenship Act and the violence at Jamia even after the police entered the campus and the management urged them to call it off. The police, however, said the university authorities had asked for help, reported NDTV. The university has declared holiday till December 23.

The police have detained two students – Karthikeyan and Subbaiah – at Triplicane police station and are refusing to release them, claim the protestors. The police have reportedly set a condition that the protests have to stop for them to be released. Subbaiah is pursuing his Masters in Public Administration, while Karthikeyan is a postgraduate student in political science.

The protests began at 11 am and continued into the night. Students shouted slogans, staged musical performances and led non-violent demonstration. “We oppose the CAA and NRC [National Register of Citizens] tooth and nail, and condemn the brutality unleashed on agitating students,” a protestor told The Hindu.

However, tension started building up around 1.30 pm when around 80 students started marching to the university. The police detained Karthikeyan and Subbaiah at that time and allegedly used force against others. “They used their lathis to hit the students when they refused to get into the police vehicle,” Bhumika, an eyewitness, told The News Minute. “They dragged them by the collar and took them forcefully.”

The police action, however, triggered more protests. The students then marched up to meet the offices of the registrar and the vice chancellor. However, the management held peace talks with them and asked the students to give up the protests.

“The detained students are safe,” legal studies department director and syndicate member Santhosh Kumar told The News Minute. “University students should be studying and not protesting. This Act is a central government legislation and the case is already in Supreme Court.” He added that the detained students will be released when the protests end.