JNU row: Delhi police looking for 30 students who organised event

After the Delhi police’s intelligence report indicated that JNU Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar had not participated in anti-India sloganeering, investigators are looking for other varsity students, involved directly or indirectly in the controversial February 9 event.

The police has prepared a dossier of these students. A highly-placed source said the intelligence agencies are tracking the location of 30-odd students whose names had either appeared on posters for the event or were involved in organising the event.

The students on the police radar are Democratic Students Union members Umar Khalid, Banojyotsna Lahiri, Anirban Bhattacharya, Rubina Saife, Komal Bharat Mohite, Ashwati, Anwesha, Anjali Jha, Bhawana Bedi and Samar.

The police is also looking for the students whose names had been mentioned by the special branch in its report. The students whose names figured in the special branch report include DSU members Kusum Laya, Mrityunjay, Raggav, Priyadarsani Panda, Gayatri G, Kaustav Banerje, Kalai Rasom and Ritu Pan Goswami. The investigators are also on the lookout for DSF president V. Lenin Kumar, secretary Ishan Anand and members Roshan Kishore, Zioo Das Gupta, Robert Rehman Raman, Rick Mukherjee, Mohd. Attmash, Ruchira Sen, Anshul Dwivedi and Koyal Varma.

Information gathered by the police reveals that Umar Khalid, who has a masters in history from JNU, is pursuing Ph.D. Mr Khalid, who resides in Tapti Hostel, completed M.Phil from the same varsity and his field work was on Jharkhand. He is said to have conceived the idea of organising the event and was its main organiser along with Anirban Bhattacharya and Banojyotsna Lahiri. Mr Khalid was one of the applicants who had sought permission for the event at Sabarmati Dhaba.

Mr Bhattacharya, who is pursuing a Ph.D in modern history and resides in Brahmaputra Hostel, and is said to be one of the persons reportedly involved in preparation and distribution of posters and banners. He was also among the students who had sought permission for the event.

Rubina Saife, married to one Reyaz-ul-Haq, too is a Ph.D. student. She is also said to have participated in the controversial programme and her name was mentioned on the posters.

The police’s preliminary investigations show that Banojyotsna works as a guest faculty in the Ambedkar University. She is said to have conceptualised the parameters of the event in consultation with Mr Khalid. She had reportedly proposed the title of the event as “A country without a post office: Against the Brahminical cannibal collective conscience, against judicial murder of Afzal Guru.”

Investigations have revealed that Komal Bharat Mohite of Ganga Hostel too was among the applicants for booking of Sabarmati Dhaba for the event. Reports suggest that School of International Studies student Aswati along with Bhawana Bedi, Anjali Jha, Aswati, and Komal Bharat Mohite were mentioned on the posters issued for the event. These students reside in Ganga and Shipra Hostels.