Accused reportedly from influential families; students allege police trying to 'sheild' culprits
Accused reportedly from influential families; students allege police trying to 'sheild' culprits
If you thought Manu Sharmas won't dare to flash their guns in public again, wake up!
It was more than the high triggered by a bottle of Blenders Pride that impelled four boys on the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University into first threatening the varsity guards then eveteasing. It must have been misguided machismo. And a total disregard for the law, knowing that if you are rich and powerful you can get away with anything.
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The Accused: Gagan Kumar, Amit Chauhan, Nitin Kapoor and Ankit Nanda inside a PCR van |
It was 2.50 pm and Inspector Devender Malik, the Group 4 security guard at JNU, was on his routine inspection round when he noticed a white Hyundai Accent bearing registration number DL 3C AL 8366 near the Pashchimabad gate. To his amazement, he found four boys freely enjoying drinks in the car.
When he told them to leave immediately, the boys threatened him with a gun, which police later claimed was a 'toy lighter'. As Malik left the spot to call for police help, the boys eve tease the girls.
The boys gained entry into the campus by telling the guard at the gate that they were going to Kaveri hostel to meet a friend.
Malik told MiD DAY that the boys boasted of being close to a "Delhi Deputy Commissioner of Police and a Station House Officer".
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The pacifier: JNU student's union president Sandeep Singh talking to the students demanding apology from four boys who were found drinking in a car on the campus. |
A Police Control Van was called and the four boys were detained. However, till then the news had spread like wild fire. Hundreds of students gathered at the main gate and closed it. They gheraoed the police van and demanded the boys be handed over to them. When the cops refused to do so, the students said the boys should be made to apologise and they should be allowed to smear the faces of the culprits in black paint.
Till that time senior police officials, including Deputy Commissioner of Police (south) HGS Dhaliwal had reached the spot. He tried to calm the nerves but his pleas fell on deaf ears. In the meantime, the crowd had swelled and tempers ran at an all time high. The students refused to budge.
The students also pelted stones at the car used by the four and damaged it completely. Sandeep Singh, President of the JNU student's union, asked the police to register a case right at the campus. The drama did not end even after the police registered a case and booked the four under relevant sections. Dhaliwal's promise to deploy a PCR van 24X7 failed to pacify the students. "We have booked them under non-bailable sections.
They pointed a pistol at the security staff and also indulged in eve teasing. They will have to be rushed as soon as possible other wise the alcohol level in their blood will decrease as time passes," he told the students over the microphone.u00a0
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South district DCP HGS Dhaliwal speaking to JNU student's union president Sandeep Singh; stones pelted at the cops in JNU campus and the cover of the bottle of Blenders Pride inside the smashed car. pics/Subhash Barolia |
The gatecrashers
But, more than five hours after the incident, the students refused to allow the police to leave the campus with the four. The police had to finally resort to lathi charge at around 10 in the evening during the course of which the students also pelted stones at the police van and damaged it. The police forcibly opened the gate and also beat up students.u00a0 More than 20 students were detained while some including a cameraman and reporter from a TV channel suffered minor injuries. A constable identified as Kapil was also hit on his head by a stone and rushed to the nearby hospital by a PCR van. The police also fired tear gas shells.
Case details
The four accused were identified as Gagan Kumar, Amit Chauhan and Nitin Kapoor all residents of Lakshmibai Nagar and Ankit Nanda, a resident of Shivalik, Malviya Nagar. The FIR lodged at the Vasant Kunj police station mentioned that the pistol used by the four was a 'toy pistol shaped lighter'. The police have arrested them under sections 452, 354, 506/34 of the Indian Penal Code and 68 of the Excise Act. Till late night, the number of people detained could not be ascertained. The police said that they have recovered a bottle of Blenders Pride whiskey, two bottles of soda, and vodka from the car driven by the accused.
"We will never allow Manu Sharmas on the campus," the students shouted.
