Delhi Police identifies WhatsApp group in JNU attack

Jan 11, 2020
New Delhi: Delhi police Special Investigating Team (SIT) has identified the WhatsApp group named ‘Unity against Left’ linked to the January 5 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 37 of 60 members of the WhatsApp group linked to the mob attack was created just an hour before the violence took place in the varsity campus.

Further, police is also going to investigate the role of Rohit Singh, BA (French) 1st year JNU student and Akshat Awasthi, also enrolled in the same course in the university, in the violence. Around twenty ABVP activists who are alleged to be involved in the mob attack will also to be subjected to investigation by police, said a source.

Meanwhile, a video surfaced in the social media also tells Akshat Awasthi claiming that on the day of the violence, lights of the campus were switched off by the Delhi police personnel.

Earlier, the Delhi Police Crime Branch had released photographs of nine suspects, including JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh, whom they blamed to be have been involved in the violence. During a Press conference held by DCP (Crime), Joy Tirkey, he flashed a photograph in which, Aishe Ghosh was seen leading the mob inside JNU campus.

The police said that Aishe Ghosh led a mob that attacked Periyar Hostel inside the university. The police did not present the CCTV footage claiming that the server room was vandalised in the violence.

However, according to DCP Tirkey, they have not detained anyone so far. But notices to the identified people will be served to join the investigation which is still going on.

The students so far identified by the Delhi police on the January 5 attack include Aishe Ghosh (JNUSU president), Vikas Patel (MA Korean Studies), Pankaj Mishra (School of Social Sciences), Chuchunm Kumar (former JNU student), Yogender Bhardwaj (PhD Sanskrit), Dolan Samanata (School of Social Sciences), Sucheta Talukdar (School of Social Sciences), Priya Ranjan (School of Language and cultural Studies) and Vaskar Vijay.

According to police sources, most of them are members of Left-wing student organisations.IANS