Video appears to contradict cops on Dec 15 Jamia action
Police say they will probe the clip showing cops in masks barging into Jamia library
NEW DELHI: The Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC) on Sunday tweeted a video purportedly showing security personnel in masks barging into a library at Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia and baton-charging students during a crackdown on protests against India’s controversial citizenship law.
The 44-second clip, which appeared to be from CCTV, contradicts the police’s claim that they did not enter the library on December 15, the day protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA, flared up in the national capital and clashes broke out near the university.
The police said that they will probe the clip, which prompted a top Jamia official to say that it vindicates the university’s stand. The video also triggered a barrage of criticism by opposition leaders who condemned the use of force against students inside the premier institute.
“We have taken cognisance of the latest video of Jamia Millia Islamia University which has surfaced now; we will investigate it,” special commissioner of police (crime) Praveer Ranjan said. He is the head of the crime branch, which is probing the clashes.
The video shows around eight-nine personnel in police and paramilitary uniform entering the library and charging at people sitting in front of laptops. The faces of those wearing uniforms are covered. It also shows some students scurrying to a corner just seconds before that.
Hours later, a second video surfaced on the social media, purportedly showing a suspected rioter carrying a stone and taking shelter in the library, while other people — some of them with their faces covered — appear to arrange desks to block the entrance. It was not clear if it was shot before or after the purported police action. And in a third video, a group of people — some carrying stones — is seen in a corridor purportedly inside the campus on the same day.
HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos. It was not clear as to who leaked the footage exactly two months after the clashes, but university officials said that it could be part of the evidence they sent to the police as evidence.
The police have previously denied allegations of their personnel entering the library and beating students, and said that tear gas shells may have damaged the library.
“No police personnel went inside the library or vandalised it. Tear gas shells may have gone inside the library since it was close to the places from where they were being fired,” Delhi Police spokesperson Mandeep Randhawa said on December 16.