Youth Congress workers booked after clash with ABVP in Pune

Pune police on Saturday, August 22, registered a case against 50 to 60 Youth Congress workers following a clash with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members at a university hostel campus ahead of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ event in the city.

The incident took place on Friday, August 21, at the College of Engineering, Pune (COEP) hostel campus, following which police were deployed in large numbers.

According to an official, an FIR was registered on a complaint by an ABVP member under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Maharashtra Police Act. The charges include voluntarily causing hurt, unlawful assembly and criminal intimidation.

The complainant alleged that Congress workers were pressuring female students at the institute to register for the event and had also tried to make one of them record a video statement.

ABVP members reportedly went to the hostel to inquire about the matter, where they were allegedly verbally abused and assaulted by Congress workers, according to the complaint.

Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar, who visited the hostel after the clash, alleged that ABVP members had threatened the two female students.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Pradesh Youth Congress media department president Akshay Jain described the incident as unfortunate. He said the two students had raised concerns over scholarship-related issues and had expressed support for the ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ event.