Ayodhya students booked for sedition over azaadi slogans

LUCKNOW: A group of students of Saket PG College, Ayodhya, has been booked on sedition and other charges for allegedly raising “azaadi” slogans during protest in which they demanded students’ union poll.

ND Pandey, principal of the college, lodged a complaint against 13 students at the Ayodhya Kotwali police station on December 23. Thereafter, Ashutosh Mishra, station officer in charge of the police station, lodged a first information report (FIR) against six students the same day.

“FIR has been lodged under several sections against students on various charges, including arson. Some students incited three students to commit suicide and they reached rooftop of the college,” the station officer said on Sunday.

The students denied the sedition charges, saying they were demanding “azaadi” (freedom) from the principal and the “antistudent policies” of the college.

The incident took place on December 16. During investigation, the station officer found six more students involved in the incident. The police booked the students under Sections 124A (sedition), 147 (rioting), 353 (assault on public servant), 427 (causing damage to property), 506 (offence of criminal intimidation) and other sections of the IPC. Students Sumit Tewari, Seshnarayan Pandey, Imran Hashmi, Sathvik Pandey, Mohit Yadav and Manoj Mishra were named in the FIR.

The college management has now announced the students’ union poll on February 10 next year.