Day before police barged into Jamia: Police had input Sunday’s march could go out of hand

On Sunday, a march by students to mobilise support from locals had ended in clashes with police, as the crowd swelled and some of them insisted on marching to the Parliament there and then. This was followed by police action on the campus in the evening.

An officer in the Special Branch told The Indian Express they had sent an advisory to the South East district informing them about the protest. “In our advisory, we intimated them that local political leaders and anti-social elements could also intervene to create a ruckus, so district police should make adequate arrangements by calling additional force,” a senior officer said.

When contacted, Additional DCP (special branch) Jitendra Mani confirmed they had issued an advisory letter.

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On Sunday, the special CP (law and order of southern range) R S Krishnia was at two functions — one in South and another in Dwarka district. “The first programme, Swachhata Pakhwada, was held at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in South district, where L-G Anil Baijal was the chief guest. Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik and JCP (southern range) Devesh Srivastava were also present. Another event in Dwarka district saw Patnaik and Krishnia in attendance, and they got free by 6 pm,” a senior police officer said.

While the district police had initially called in two companies of paramilitary forces with 200 police personnel, as things escalated, four extra companies and more police staff were called in.

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Sources told The Indian Express that the district police had spoken with the organisers of the student protest, and a rally was also called by AAP Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan, where around 10,000 people were protesting peacefully at Shaheen Bagh. “But things changed when a local muscleman along with ruffians joined the protest. Protesters then started heading towards Mata Mandir Marg in New Friends Colony, which is also a residential area. They had decided to march towards New Delhi area and decided to take Mathura Road. After reaching there, as police tried to push them, they resorted to vandalism. We started getting calls from panicked residents, and minimum force was used even as they torched DTC buses and private vehicles,” an officer privy to the investigation said.

Police then charged protesters with batons and fired tear gas shells. “Police started chasing all stone pelters back to Jamia Nagar. In the commotion, some stone pelters entered the campus and police personnel trailing them followed them inside,” an officer said.

Delhi Police PRO M S Randhawa said: “The Jamia campus is not unified and it is situated on both sides of the road. When violence erupted there, bottles, bulbs and tubelights were also thrown. At least 30 police personnel, including a DCP-rank officer, sustained injuries. Some students were detained when police were trying to push them towards Jamia Nagar. Later, they were released after verification,” he said.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police has registered two FIRs of rioting and damaging public property against unidentified persons in connection with the violence in South Delhi Sunday. On police storming the Jamia campus, he said: “There was no firing and casualty…the Crime Branch will investigate.”