Two ABVP activists, held for campus attack, suspended

New Delhi: A day after two ABVP members were arrested for allegedly attacking a group of AISA supporters, the RSS-backed outfit suspended the two for their act of “indiscipline”.

The accused, Prashant Mishra and Vinayak Sharma, allegedly strangled AISA activists Raj Singh and Utkarsh Bhardwaj near Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College on Tuesday evening.

“We condemn this act by the two students and advocate a violence-free atmosphere on campus. On basis of preliminary information, the two members have been suspended from the party for their act of indiscipline. An interim inquiry has been ordered to take further action,” ABVP national media convenor Saket Bahuhuna said. Meanwhile, the police said that they were released on bail on the same day.

However, the ABVP also filed a counter-complaint during the day against All-India Students’ Association (AISA) members, claiming that one of the two arrested suffered a hand fracture during the scuffle. Utkarsh and Raj had claimed that they were attacked by seven to eight people of the ABVP near SGTB Khalsa College and strangled with belts. The incident happened when the AISA activists were returning from the Arts Faculty of the North Campus after the anti-ABVP march ended.

The police had then nabbed Prashant and Vinayak from the spot and booked them under IPC sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), the police said.

“They held my neck and tried to strangle me with hand,” said the letter written by one of the AISA members to the Maurice Nagar SHO.

Last week, Ramjas College had witnessed violent clashes between ABVP and AISA activists for an invite to JNU student Umar Khalid. In the clashes between the two student groups, more than a dozen were injured.