ABVP deadline nears, bulldozers at SRMU
Barabanki administration demolishes 'illegal structure' structure on the campus of the university in barabanki; 2 more held for Sept 1 clash
3 min read
Demolition underway at SRMU on Saturday (Express)Hours before the ABVP’s 48-hour deadline to the Uttar Pradesh government came to an end on Saturday, the Barabanki district administration demolished a building on the campus of Shri Ramswaroop Memorial University (SMRU), saying it was illegally constructed on a government land.
The demolition of the ‘illegal structure’ on the campus was among the four demands of the ABVP, which has been protesting since last Monday’s police lathicharge on students protesting over the invalidity of the law degree of the SRMU that left several of its members injured.
Late Saturday afternoon, a joint team from the district administration and police reached the SRMU campus with bulldozers and removed the portion identified as an encroachment. A heavy police force was deployed both inside and outside the campus.
“A demolition drive was carried out, and the portion found built on government land was removed,” said Barabanki Additional Superintendent of Police Vikas Chandra Tripathi.
Tripathi added that in connection with the September 1 violence on the campus, police have arrested two more persons, taking the total number of arrests to four. All four are outsiders, said police. The ABVP had earlier alleged that outsiders were involved in the violence on SRMU campus that led to brutal police lathicharge on student during demonstrations over the “validity” of certain law degrees issued by the university. The ABVP later released a list of students it claimed were hurt, along with video clips purportedly showing police chasing students and beating them with canes.
The ABVP’s other demands include a high-level inquiry into the alleged operation of the law course and action against the university officials responsible. It had also sought FIR’s and strict action against the police personnel and ‘hired goons’ involved in the lathi-charge, disclosure of who ordered the police action, and stringent measures against the university on the basis of the FIR lodged by the Secretary of the Higher Education Council.
Taking serious note of the matter, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered a probe into the police lathicharge and directed the Divisional Commissioner and the IG, Ayodhya Range, to investigate. Circle Officer Harshit Chauhan was removed from his post and four policemen, including a sub-inspector, were suspended, officials said.
Meanwhile, the matter took a political turn when ABVP leaders staged a protest outside the residence of minister OM Prakash Rajbhar in Lucknow, accusing him of having described the lathi charged students as “gundas”.
Rajbhar’s party, the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), an ally of the BJP in the state, alleged that the protesting members used abusive language against the minister, who is regarded as a leader of the “Most Backward Classes.”
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