A bag containing a pistol and live cartridges was found on the JNU campus, which is witnessing an agitation by a section of students over disappearance of a student Najeeb Ahmad even as the administration blamed the involvement of "outsiders" in the protests.
The black bag was noticed by a security guard of JNU at the north gate around 2 am on Monday. It contained a 7.65 pistol, seven cartridges and a screw driver, said a senior police officer.
The guard immediately informed the JNU administration, that complained about it to police. A case under Arms Act has been registered against unknown persons and investigation has been undertaken, said the officer, adding that police would be scanning the CCTV footage of the area.
"Despite repeated appeals by the JNU administration, protest and public meetings, sit-ins, hunger strike, etc have been organised by certain sections of JNU community and outsiders have been invited to be a part of such demonstrations. While police were immediately informed to do necessary investigation, such an incident demands utmost caution and alertness from the entire varsity," the administration said in a statement.
The university also maintained that it is in process of installing CCTVs throughout the campus in wake of such incidents.
When asked about the incident, Dependra Pathak the Joint Commissioner of Police South Western range and Delhi Police spokesperson said the weapon recovered from the campus has been seized and an investigation has been launched after registering a case at Vasant Kunj North police station. “We are trying to ascertain as to who could have brought this weapon and seven live cartridges in the JNU campus,” he added.
A section of JNU students agitating, have also been joined by mother and sister of the missing student.
Najeeb, 27, a student of School of Biotechnology and a native of Badaun in Uttar Pradesh, went missing on October 15 following an on-campus scuffle allegedly with some members of ABVP.