Delhi Police chief Bassi justifies JNUSU president’s arrest, says no evidence of LeT link so far
The police chief added that during Kanhaiya's questioning investigators have gathered crucial information which will now be verified and processed.
File photo B S Bassi
Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi on Monday defended the arrest of Nehru Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar, and claimed he had raised anti-national slogans during an event on the university premises against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
Bassi, however, said the police had so far found “no evidence” linking Lashkar-e-Taiba to the event. “As and when it comes, it will be shared with Home Ministry.”
Speaking to reporters after meeting Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Bassi said, “Kanhaiya was present at the event, where he delivered a speech and participated in an unlawful assembly which indulged in anti-India sloganeering. It was because of his involvement, and the evidence we have collected so far, that he has been arrested under charge of sedition.” Reiterating that Kumar had raised anti-national slogans and his speech was highly objectionable, Bassi said the event against the hanging of Afzal Guru was anti-national and unlawful. Asked about a purported tweet of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed that was tagged by
Delhi Police in an alert issued on Twitter asking students not to get carried away by anti-India rhetoric, Bassi said a probe had been initiated into the matter.
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“Don’t go into whether the tweet is authentic or not. Go to the contents of the tweet. The content of the tweet was blasphemous, which could incite violence, and that is the only reason why we issued an alert,” the police chief said. “It is inflammatory, it incites people against the lawfully established government in India. I am surprised that people are more concerned about the (authenticity of the) tweet than its potential impact.”
He added, “Whether Hafiz Saeed posted the tweet himself, whether it was issued through a proxy account, or whether someone else tweeted using his name, is now a matter of investigation. A probe has been initiated into it.” The Delhi Police are scrutinising several tweets from the Twitter handle and other accounts linked to it, he said.
Asked whether any links had emerged between Kashmir militants and students involved in the incident at JNU, Bassi said, “Kanhaiya’s interrogation will be analysed for terror links and the police are looking for some other students who all went absconding after the incident but will soon be arrested.”
Asked whether the police were aware of any video footage purportedly showing ABVP members shouting anti-India slogans at the JNU event, Bassi said, “As far as I am informed, ABVP students were protesting against the particular event. However, if anything comes up against them, they will have to face legal action too.”
Later, in the evening, Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said the police had identified 12 to 18 individuals who were part of the event organised at JNU, and action would be taken against them in accordance with the law.
Home Ministry sources said the Delhi Police had given the ministry status reports on two separate sedition cases filed ? one in connection with the JNU incident, and the other in connection with an event at the Press Club of India in New Delhi in which a group allegedly raised slogans in support of Afzal Guru. “We have received a status report on the two FIRs filed. They are not linked, and are absolutely separate cases. Two different sets of persons are involved in the two incidents,” said a Home Ministry official.
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