PIL filed in HC over LPU protest

A PIL was filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking a CBI probe into the vandalism and violence at Lovely Professional University in Phagwara.

Shopkeepers on the campus counted heavy losses after masked miscreants allegedly broke into stores and decamped with mobile phones, gadgets and other goods during the unrest.

A B Tech student of Lovely Professional University (LPU) filed the public interest litigation (PIL) plea, which is likely to be heard by the bench of Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor on Wednesday.

The petitioner sought a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the violence and vandalism on the LPU campus.

Ravi Raj, the petitioner, submitted that an unverified post was circulated among the students on the night of September 26, claiming that a female student had been raped on the campus and the student had been sent home.

The students gathered outside the girls’ hostel, and later National Highway-44 was blocked, according to the plea.

Later, a large number of outsiders, carrying swords, rods and sickles with their faces covered, reached the LPU campus and broke open the varsity main gates, destroyed CCTV cameras, looted shops and set several places on fire.

In the petition, the LPU students submitted that the relevant rules of the IT Act should have been enforced when the misleading rumours spread on the campus.

According to the plea, adequate security arrangements were also sought around the university campus.

LPU students held a massive protest on Sunday and also blocked a stretch of the New Delhi-Amritsar Highway outside their campus over claims that an outsider had raped a female student on the university premises.

However, violence also broke out on the campus, with students saying that some outsiders with their faces covered indulged in vandalism, damaged property, ransacked shops and also set several places on fire on the LPU campus.

Calm returned to the LPU campus on Monday, with a large number of students heading home following the suspension of classes for 10 days. The unrest, however, on the campus left a trail of destruction, with many shopkeepers at the university’s Uni Mall claiming heavy losses.

The shop owners claimed that masked miscreants looted goods by breaking locks with iron rods during the students’ protest.

Police said they are examining CCTV footage as part of the investigation into the violence.

Asked about CCTV visuals showing some individuals indulging in vandalism, breaking into shops on the campus and whether they have been identified as students or outsiders, Additional Director General of Police Praveen Sinha said, "These are matters of investigation, but let me suffice by saying that the investigation is well underway."

"All these people will be identified, and action will be taken," he said.

A mobile phone shopkeeper claimed that masked miscreants took away mobile phones, pen drives and memory cards after breaking open the lock with iron rods. He claimed that CCTV cameras were damaged and a DVR was taken away.

Another mobile shopkeeper on the campus also estimated losses in lakhs of rupees. "Everything is finished," rued the shopkeeper.

A worker at the departmental store also highlighted massive financial loss because of being looted by miscreants. He claimed cosmetics and other items were taken away.

Some purported videos surfaced on social media showing masked people targeting shops.

Interestingly, a stationery shop on the campus remained untouched by masked miscreants.