JNU violence: Masked woman in video is Delhi University student, claim police
The police did not disclose the woman’s identity, but said she would be sent a legal notice asking her to appear for questioning.
A special investigation team of the Delhi Police’s Crime Branch has identified a woman who was allegedly involved in the January 5 violence at Jawaharlal Nehru University, The Indian Express reported on Monday. Last week, India Today had aired a sting operation in which one of the masked assailants was identified as a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad.
In one of the videos shared on social media, a masked woman was seen holding a stick and threatening students in the university’s Sabarmati hostel. The woman was seen wearing a check shirt and a blue scarf. Soon after, the person recording the video is heard saying: “She’s the girl who said she is a JNU student but she’s not...piche ja [go back].” Shards of glass and broken furniture were also seen in the two-minute-long video shot in a corridor.
The police said the woman was a Delhi University student, but did not disclose her identity. She is reportedly from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the students’ wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. “The woman was identified through one of the videos of the incident,” said an unidentified senior police officer. “She lives in North Campus area. We approached her during the day but she was not home; her phone is switched off. We will send her a legal notice and ask her to come for questioning.” The police have also called 49 others for questioning, including 37 people who were part of a group on WhatsApp called “Unity Against Left”, NDTV reported. Some members of the group are believed to be behind the violence. In a press conference on Saturday, the Crime Branch had said it might explore the possibility of the involvement of some Delhi University students in the violence.
Others being investigated
On Friday, the Delhi Police claimed to have identified nine people in connection with the violence, including Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union President Aishe Ghosh, who was among the 34 people injured in the mob attack. According to the police, Ghosh and several others attacked students at Periyar Hostel – an ABVP stronghold. Specific rooms were targeted at the hostel, they claimed. The police filed two FIRs against Ghosh and others for events that took place between January 1 and 4 based. These cases were registered while a mob attack was underway at the university. They are based on the complaints of the JNU administration –
The police have also released photographs of the suspected attackers and identified them as Chunchun Kumar, Pankaj Mishra, Waskar Vijay, Sucheta Talukdar, Priya Ranjan, Dolan Samanta, Yogendra Bhardwaj and Vikas Patel. Seven of them are from the Left-backed All India Students Association and two from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. Three cases were registered in connection with the violence, but no one has been detained for questioning yet.