JNU Violence: Delhi Police Change Their Theory in Just 3 Days

The SIT of the Delhi Police Crime Branch has identified Komal Sharma as a student of the Delhi University.

Dr Joy Tirkey of the crime branch (left) and a purported photograph of DU student Komal Sharma.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

With the unmasking of a possible assailant involved in the attack on Jawaharlal Nehru University's Sabarmati hostel on 5 January, Delhi Police's initial theory may prove incorrect.

In a press conference on Friday, 10 January, police had said that it was unlikely that people from outside the campus were involved.

"The rooms in JNU's Periyar and Sabarmati hostels were selectively targeted. The attackers knew which rooms to enter. I have spent four days at JNU and I still forget the way," Dr Joy Tirkey of the crime branch had told the media.

But the police’s new revelation on Monday contradicts this.

The Special Investigation Team of the Delhi Police Crime Branch has identified Komal Sharma, who was purportedly seen at the hostel wearing a mask and carrying a stick, as a student of the Delhi University.

It is learnt that the woman is from the ABVP and her photos were circulated by the Left outfits following the incident. A voice message had also surfaced in which Komal is heard asking his sister to not tell anyone that “she was seen at the JNU campus.”

Police’s Theory Was Flawed

The police has now admitted that external elements may have been involved. However, the its theory had several flaws from the beginning:

• The WhatsApp groups that the police was referring to in its investigation had messages indicating which gates to use to enter, which means that people outside the campus were being addressed.
• The police, in its press conference hadn't mentioned some people who were seen at the campus with sticks.
• The police used photographs and videos shared by a specific student organisation to implicate that the Left was behind the violence at JNU.
• A sting operation by India Today had also revealed that people from outside the campus, including DU students, had possibly been called to JNU.
• Swaraj Abhiyan chief Yogendra Yadav was allegedly manhandled outside the JNU campus where he had gone to take stock of the situation. The police didn't reveal who these people were.
• Hindu Raksha Dal leader Pinki Choudhary said on camera that his people had been involved in the violence at JNU, but the police didn't address this as well.

(This article was translated from Hindi. Read the original here.)