Jamia violence: Delhi Police serves notices on 10 students, asks to appear for questioning

New Delhi, Feb 20: The Delhi Police on Wednesday served notices on 10 Jamia Millia Islamia students asking them to appear before it for questioning in connection with the December 15 violence during an anti-CAA protest and alleged police crackdown at the university subsequently.

A team of the Delhi Police Crime Branch visited the university campus on Wednesday and handed over the notices to the students, a senior police officer said.

The students who have been called for questioning included some of those detained on the night of the incident, some identified through CCTV video clips that surfaced recently, and some of those suffering injuries on that day, the officer said.

On Tuesday, some other members of the Crime Branch team led by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rajesh Deo had visited the campus for the first time after December 15 when the police allegedly cracked down on students studying in the library.

The team members had spoken to Mohammad Minhajuddin, a student who had lost vision in one of his eyes in the police action.

Meanwhile, the university administration has submitted to the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry an estimate of damage caused to the property due to the alleged police action.

It has cited damages worth Rs 2.66 crore to its property and also said that it happened due to the police barging inside campus without permission.

The majority of the damage happened to the libraries where the students were studying. The damage occurred to CCTV cameras, which were allegedly broken, tubelights, AC units, doors, glass windows and library tables.

According to a varsity official, the repair work in the new reading block has begun and it might be opened for students in a few days. However, the repair work in the old reading block will take time and it might not be opened for students soon.

Four videos have surfaced online of the incident, the latest being on Monday.

In a video that emerged on Sunday, paramilitary and police personnel can be seen thrashing students in the library. Two other videos, which appeared hours later, showed some youths with covered faces entering the library. In the latest video, police personnel can be seen raining batons on students who were trying to escape.

Women students can be seen moving out while pleading with the police and one of the policemen is seen breaking a CCTV camera.

On December 15, police had used batons and teargas shells to disperse a violent mob during a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

They entered the university campus, saying that rioters had taken shelter there. However, Jamia students had denied that they were involved in the violence and had alleged police brutality.