New Delhi: Even as a masked mob ran riot Sunday at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) assaulting students, Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar sent a message for deployment of police outside the main gate only at 6.45pm, and the force entered the premises an hour later when the attackers had dispersed, police sources have said.
It should be state here that the vice-chancellor has been facing criticism for not acting swiftly when the students were being attacked by a mob Sunday evening.
The varsity had been on a boil since afternoon. Earlier, at around 3.45pm, the police control room (PCR) received the first call about the violence from the varsity’s Periyar hostel.
The police immediately responded to the call. The policemen, who were deployed at the administration block following an earlier high court directive, were asked to go to the spot, the sources said.
At Periyar Hostel, some people attacked students with batons. However, the group did not enter the hostel. Around 17 PCR calls were received from Periyar hostel till around 4.15 pm, the sources said.
After dispersing the crowd at Periyar hostel, the police personnel returned to the administration block of the varsity.
Around 5-5.15 pm, DCP (southwest) Devender Arya entered the campus. He also visited the Periyar hostel and inspected the situation. He, however, returned to the main gate of the university after ‘ensuring’ that the situation was normal, the sources said.
After the incident at the Periyar hostel, the main gate of JNU varsity was closed and entry was not allowed. The police was deployed at the north gate of the varsity, sources said.
However, the violence continued inside the campus.
PTI