Delhi Police book 6 JNU students after scuffle with cops, 3 office bearers of students’ union ‘bound down’

The three JNUSU office bearers who were booked are Nitesh Kumar, 26, (President, JNUSU), Manisha, 28, (Vice President, JNUSU), and Munteha Fatima, 28, (General Secretary, JNUSU).

The police said the six have been “bound down”, while other detained students were held under Section 65 of the Delhi Police Act and would be handed over to university officials after medical examination.

The confrontation marks an escalation of tensions that began last week. In the early hours of Thursday, a general body meeting at JNU’s School of Social Sciences descended into chaos when Left-affiliated student groups accused members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) of ‘hooliganism’. The ABVP, in turn, claimed its members were subjected to “regional hatred” and physical assault.

Over the next two days, posters calling for a “social march for social justice” began circulating on campus. Organised primarily by Left groups and amplified under the hashtag #SOSJNU, the march was aimed at the Vasant Kunj North police station, where some students demanded an FIR be registered against ABVP members who allegedly attacked them. They claimed that despite multiple complaints, no police action had been taken.

The police, however, said they had “remained in continuous touch with the student leaders and ensured proper legal action,” but claimed that the union refused to withdraw its call for a gherao of the police station.

According to the police, “Around 6 pm, approximately 70-80 students, including female students, gathered at the West Gate of JNU. Police barricades were placed to restrict their movement towards Nelson Mandela Marg…” the Delhi Police said in a statement. The police also accused the group of manhandling cops and using abusive language.

Left student groups, however, accused the police of brutality and claimed that the very students who had submitted complaints were detained. “Delhi Police beats JNU students,” one statement read, alleging that ABVP members on Thursday used “casteist, Islamophobic and misogynistic abuses” against JNUSU leaders while police personnel stood by.