The Delhi Police told a court that it was forced to enter Jamia Millia Islamia University in December after protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act erupted, Hindustan Times reported on Tuesday.

Submitting the action taken report on Monday, the police said that local leaders and politicians had provoked the protestors, after which some students and others assembled at the campus and raised instigating slogans. The police claimed they found it hard to differentiate between rioters and students, adding that all of them had to be evacuated.

The submissions were made in the court of metropolitan magistrate Rajat Goyal and the matter was posted for further hearing on April 7. In January, Goyal had instructed the police to file a report on the plea of the university seeking registration of first information report due to alleged police action against students.

“It is submitted that the said action was required to be taken in light of the ongoing violence from within the university campus and to rescue the innocent students trapped inside and to ensure normalcy,” the Delhi Police’s report said, according to ANI.

The police submitted that several of its officials had been injured in the violence. They claimed that the mob strategically went inside the campus and used the university premises as a cover. Following this, the mob started pelting stones and other objects at the police, resulting in serious injuries to the personnel.

“The police tried to control the violent mob by using a loudspeaker and requested them not to take law in their hands but they did not pay any heed to the warning and lawful directions of police and kept on damaging the public property,” the police’s report added. The Delhi Police said its officials used tear gas shells and moderate force to disperse the protestors. It further added that FIRs had been registered over the violence.

Violence had erupted in the area around Jamia Millia Islamia university during an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protest march by the university’s students on December 15. The Delhi Police have been accused of using excessive force to quell the demonstrations and of storming into the campus. The police have earlier claimed that its action on December 15 was justified as the protestors had allegedly injured its personnel and set buses on fire. Following the violence, several videos purportedly show students pelting stones, and the police entering the university, and allegedly assaulting students.