Students meet top police over police crackdown

A day after the police crackdown on Occupy UGC protesters during their Parliament march, a delegation of students on Thursday met commissioner of police B.S. Bassi and urged him to order an inquiry against police personnel, as both sides shifted blame for the violent confrontation on each other.

The student delegation also asked for a written apology and suspension of four-five personnel who, a student leader said, had manhandled protesters on Wednesday.

Mr Bassi denied the demand of a written apology, but assured the students that an inquiry into the incident would be held, Birendra Kumar, a member of Occupy UGC coordination committee, told this newspaper.

The police had lathicharged, teargassed and used water canons against students who tried to march towards Parliament on Wednesday against the WTO-General Agreement on Trade in Services and the scrapping of non-NET fellowship.

At least 200 students were detained, of whom 14 were critically injured, said JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar. The detained were released around 2 am on Thursday, he said. Mr Kumar rejected claims that protesters provoked the police. Social media photos and videos show the police lathicharging students by chasing them. New Delhi DCP Jatin Narwal, however, said the police used “minimum force” to prevent the students from reaching Parliament under Section 144 of CrPC. When asked if he will take action against the culprits, he said he will wait for the report.