Law’s long hand stops short of student leaders in Lucknow

If IG (Lucknow zone) Sulkhan Singh couldn’t stop controversial student union leaders from managing personal police gunners, Lucknow SSP...

If IG (Lucknow zone) Sulkhan Singh couldn’t stop controversial student union leaders from managing personal police gunners, Lucknow SSP Kamal Saksena has failed to rid them of gun licences.

Despite his instructions a month ago to district magistrates to cancel gun licences of 16 student leaders of Lucknow University, they continue to hold them. Even CM Mulayam Singh Yadav’s order to cancel gun licences of persons with criminal antecedents in the last four years does not mean anything within the four walls of LU.

Bajrangi Singh ‘Bajju’, the front-runner for president in the coming LU students’ union elections, is the proud owner of a revolver. His main opponents, Vijay Singh Tintoo and Sudhir Shukla ‘Dolly’, keep a pistol each. General secretary aspirant Ram Singh Rana has a single-barrel gun.

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Saksena said he had passed the order as ‘‘all 16 of them are undesirable elements and run contract businesses outside the university’’. Besides, many have been booked for criminal cases in the past.

This was one of the main reasons why the police wanted their gun licences cancelled before the LUSU elections.

Both Bajju and Rana, who are also strong contenders for a Samajwadi Party ticket, got their gun licences in Mau. Ask Mau District Magistrate Navdeep Dinua if he is planning to take any action to revoke their licences, and he says he is not aware of the matter.

This week Lucknow police had forwarded a list of 15 students to the Returning Officer and Proctor, asking that their nomination be cancelled for violation of the election code of conduct. No action has been taken so far.

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