A security guard on duty was allegedly attacked brutally by security officers at Jawaharlal Nehru University on Saturday morning – for using his mobile phone while on duty.
The attackers have been identified as security officer Suraj Prakash and Parveen Kumar of G4S. The incident occurred at 5:30 am in the Pashchimabad area of the campus. Photos of a bloodstained wall and floor at the spot were circulated online, sparking outrage. After the attack, the victim – employed by G4S Security, which has the tender for security at JNU – was allegedly sent back home, according to guards who did not wish to disclose their identity.
As word of the incident spread over the day, mainly through a few witnesses and reluctant fellow guards, students along with security guards gathered at the security office next to the main gate of the university at 6:30 pm to protest the attack and against inaction against the accused.
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Protesting students alleged that the victim was intimidated and threatened by the officers to not file an FIR and that his mobile had been snatched initially, and the accused later instructed him to switch off his mobile. Another guard had also been terminated on the same day for not automatically saluting the security officer.
Security officers refused to disclose the address of the victim, who was their employee, to the protestors and JNU Students Union office-bearers. It was only after students snatched the employee registers that people were able to contact the victim, who was brought to JNU and was then accompanied by a procession of students and guards to the Vasant Kunj police station to file an FIR. Protestors also asserted that the university administration was reluctant to pursue the case.
After a sit-in protest of several hours, an FIR was finally admitted by the police. The accused have not been arrested. Students allege that the accused, Suraj Prakash, has constantly misbehaved with students and karamcharis, targeting especially females and minorities over the years.
And as far as the security agency goes, G4S is a part of the private prison and detention centre industry in the US, an industry that has been consistently accused of violating the human rights of citizens – disproportionately African-American and Latino.
G4S was also the employer company that provided a service gun to Omar Mateen, the man involved in the recent shootout at a gay bar in Orlando, USA – despite prior criminal investigations and his mental health record.
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