JNU violence timeline: How the events unfolded and led to nationwide protests

On January 5, 2020, masked persons entered the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi and attacked students, teachers, and staff with lathis and destroyed property. The attack led to nation-wide protests all over the country. The protests saw people from all walks of life marching in solidarity with the victims of the attack. When it came to taking the responsibility of the attack, the police and the ABVP, who was suspected to have carried the attack, resorted to shifting blames. (Pictures/PTI, ANI)

Updated On: 2020-01-16 11:00 AM IST

Picture/PTI

On the night of January 5, masked people armed with rods and sticks entered the campus of JNU and assaulted students, professors and staff and destroyed property. This incident led to nationwide protests in the country. In the intervening night of January 5 and 6, a midnight protest was held in Mumbai that continued all day. 

More than 30 students of the university, including JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh (in picture), were injured and taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre. 

The following, Delhi Police registered an FIR at Vasant Kunj (North) Police Station and said that social media and CCTV footages will be part of the investigation.

According to sources in the Delhi police, the Crime Branch had taken all the CCTV footages under its custody as it began the probe. A Delhi police officer told IANS, "We have seen the FIR filed at Vasant Kunj police station. Nobody has been named in the FIR. Names will be added later as per the investigation."

According to a source in the Crime Branch, "All the gates of JNU are manned by security personnel. No outsider can get into the campus without permission. Then how armed masked men got into the campus — is also a big question we are investigating." "CCTV footage will greatly help to identify the goons even though their faces were covered with masks," a source said.

Meanwhile, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers' Association demanded the removal of VC M Jagadesh Kumar after the attack on students and faculty members by an armed masked mob. Addressing a press meet, the JNU teachers also demanded an enquiry into the attacks.  After what happened on campus on Sunday night, "the VC has to go," the JNUTA said.

The Delhi police have registered two FIRs as per the complaint by the university administration in connection with vandalism at the server room at JNU. The JNU administration had given the names of students union office bearers, including its president Aishe Ghosh in connection with the vandalism but the police have not put her name or that of other students in the accused column of the FIRs.

According to the police, One compliant was lodged on January 3 for switching off the server while another complaint was registered on January 4 for vandalising the server room. JNUSU vice president Saket Moon alleged that the administration is selectively targeting some students and denied any involvement in the vandalism of the server room.

JNU students protesting the violence on the university campus tried to march towards the Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 9 after a failed meeting with HRD ministry officials but were stopped and later detained by police 

Delhi police's Special Investigating Team (SIT)  identified the WhatsApp group named 'Unity Against Left' linked to the mob attack on JNU students and faculty. According to a senior Delhi police officer heading the investigation, they are not ruling out ABVP activists' involvement in the mob attack. The 60-member WhatsApp group, linked to the mob attack, was reportedly created just an hour before the violence took place in the varsity campus.

A fact-finding committee of the Congress on the JNU violence alleged on January 12 that Vice Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar was the "mastermind" behind the January 5 violence and sought his immediate dismissal and criminal probe against him. Calling the attack by masked men "state-sponsored", panel member Sushmita Dev said it recommended that Kumar be dismissed immediately and all appointments in faculty should be probed and an independent inquiry should take place. The Congress had appointed the four-member fact-finding committee to carry out a detailed inquiry into the violence at JNU.

On the other hand, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad on January 13 accused the Left-leaning student organisations and Congress' student-wing NSUI of being hand-in-glove in the January 5 violence at the JNU campus, saying it was the fallout of their pre-planned conspiracy.

On January 14 the Delhi High Court asked WhatsApp and Google to preserve and provide information related to the JNU violence to the police. The court also asked police to seize at the earliest phones of members of two WhatsApp groups on which the January 5 violence was allegedly coordinated.

The Delhi Police said on January 14 that three suspects in the JNU violence case - Komal Sharma, Rohit Shah, and Akshat Awasthi are absconding. Delhi Police said that the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team spent the entire day in retrieving CCTV footage from the server. Moreover, the Delhi High Court asked the police to seize mobile phones of the members of two WhatsApp groups allegedly used to coordinate an attack on JNU students and faculty earlier this month.

Komal Sharma, student of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), who was identified as one of the suspects in the JNU violence case, approached the National Commission for Women (NCW) on January 15 complaining that her name has been maligned. Pursuant to her complaint, NCW has written to media houses as well as the Delhi Police to look into the matter.

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