JNU siege ends, but protest to continue over missing student; VC calls students 'relentless, adamant'

The Jawaharlal University campus continued to be tense on Thursday after the protests in JNU over a missing student turned volatile on Wednesday. The agitating students locked down the Vice Chancellor and other senior officials in the administrative building.

They were locked since Wednesday and the siege continued till Thursday morning, when JNU officials were allowed to go out.

Also read: All you need to know about Najeeb Ahmed, the JNU student who is missing

'STUDENTS RELENTLESS, ADAMANT'

Shortly after he was allowed to go out of the admin building, JNU vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar said, "We had been confined inside building illegally. Students are adamant not to leave place. We have already constituted a committee to probe incident. Allegation that we have not done anything about incident is a complete lie."

"We slept on the floor. This is a complete lie that we had been provided food. Our several colleagues are sick and they spent whole night without facility," Kumar said adding, "Students have become relentless and adamant and think that we are not doing our best."

Earlier on Wednesday night, Kumar had said, "We have been locked inside the building since 2.30 pm. There is a female colleague with us who is unwell as she is diabetic," JNU Vice Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar said on Wednesday night.

The VC and other senior officials were locked since yesterday as the students were lying down outside the administration block saying the officials were free to walk over them.
THE MISSING STUDENT

A student of School of Biotechnology, Najeeb Ahmed, allegedly went missing on Saturday following a brawl on the campus the night before.

The JNU students union defended its stand claiming there has been no "illegal detention". "We have not illegally confined anybody in JNU administrative building. Electricity and all kind of supplies are here. We have also sent food for people inside," Mohit Pandey, President, JNUSU said.

Police officials were seen outside the campus awaiting a nod from the administration to enter the premises.

Kumar made an appeal to Najeeb Ahmed to return to the campus without any fear. "We are in regular touch with police. I appeal to Najeeb to return to JNU with no fear," Kumar said.

Meanwhile, Delhi police have announced a cash reward of Rs 50,000 for anyone giving clue about Najeeb Ahmed. The Delhi police posters were all the campus on Thursday.

BRIEF RESPITE

A large number of students had gathered at the administrative block in the afternoon to protest. After sloganeering and demonstration the students blocked the gates of the building.

After intervention from the security the locks were opened, but in the evening as most of the staff left, the students again continued with the blockade.

"The blockade is due to the insensitive way of handling the matter of Najeeb Ahmed -- the violence against him by ABVP which led to him missing from the campus for over five days now and the JNU administration trying to shield the culprits while refusing to lodge an FIR," the JNUSU President said.

The situation remained tense with the left-backed JNUSU and ABVP levelling allegations and counter-allegations. ABVP alleged that there is inconsistency in the statements of the JNUSU president Mohit Pandey and the roommate of Ahmad.

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FIR AND INQUIRY

"The family had filed a missing complaint and when we approached the police we were already told that an FIR has been lodged by the family," said Chintamani Mahapatra, Rector of JNU.

An FIR for kidnapping and wrongfully confining a person was lodged at Vasant Kunj North police station on Tuesday after the police received a complaint from the student's guardians.

Meanwhile, at least 12 students were summoned earlier in the day by JNU administration to appear before the proctorial committee in connection with a case involving a missing student amid protests by students who claimed Vice Chancellor acted in an "insensitive" manner on the issue.

DEMANDS OF PROTESTERS

The protesting students made three specific demands, which if met by the JNU administration, they would withdraw their agitation.

JNSU president Mohit said, "Administration should lodge a police complaint. Secondly, action should be taken against students accused of beating up Najeeb and finally, to make an appeal to Najeeb to come back to the campus."

Responding to these demands, VC Jagadesh Kumar said that he had already written a letter to police about the incident and that he was in regular touch with the police.

With regard to the second demand, the JNU administration said that a proctorial inquiry was underway and on the basis of the probe report, the culprits would be punished.

VC Kumar on Thursday made an appeal to Najeeb to return to the campus and resume his studies without any fear about his safety.

MoS HOME SLAMS AGITATING STUDENTS

MoS Home Kiren Rijiju has lamented the ongoing protest on the JNU campus. He said, "Gheraoing V-C and other officials is sad. It seems that some students come to do politics and not study in JNU."

"The environment of JNU is being spoiled by some. Police will act as per the law. JNU administration has to do what it ought to," Rijiju said.

(With inputs from PTI)

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