A scuffle broke out in Patiala High Court when the arrested president of Jawaharlal Nehru Students’ Union was in the process of being produced in the court.
Students and teachers from JNU and journalists from several media houses who had all gathered at the court claimed that they were assaulted by lawyers who shouted slogans like “Bharat mata ki jay!”
According to NDTV, Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi has said that two cases have been registered and a probe is being conducted to identify the “unknown” assaulters.
Although investigation is on its way to identify “those who have taken laws in their own hands”, a familiar face has been captured in photos from the event, who incidentally has also been photographed alongside top BJP leaders.
Vikram Singh Chauhan, the person in concern, is seen wearing a black jacket and beating a person who is believed to be a left activist.
Delhi police, however has displayed reluctance when it came to booking the known assaulter from the event. In fact, two of the extremely well known faces, OP Sharma from BJP and Chauhan, both of whom have been captured on camera assaulting journalists and Left activists, haven’t been booked for their crime.
In an interview with NDTV, Chauhan who is a regular face in courts said that he did in fact organise a protest against “anti-nationals” which went out of hand when the JNU teachers tried to provoke the lawyers present at the court.
We asked them to vacate seats for elderly lawyers. They asked me for my I-card. I said you want to divide Kashmir and Kerala, they said they were never a part of India. They started hooting...the students started the fight...two lecturers said they will start beating us as they are more in number.Vikram Singh Chauhan, Lawyer
However, it is Chauhan who is seen thrashing people on camera. He reportedly also threatened NDTV’s reporter Sonal Mehrotra and demanded that she hand over her cellphone with which she had filmed the violence.
On his Facebook page, Chauhan is seen in photos with top leaders of BJP such as Home Minister Rajnath Singh and LK Advani, although he denies allegiance to the BJP.
He also sends regular invitations to BJP events on Whatsapp as he had done for Monday’s protest.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)