Lovely Professional University Protest: High Court seeks status report from Punjab govt

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday sought a status report from the Punjab government on a probe into the violence and vandalism that erupted at Lovely Professional University in Phagwara days ago. The matter came up for hearing before the bench headed by Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra in the High Court on a plea by Lovely Professional University (LPU) BTech student, Ravi Raj, seeking a CBI probe into the vandalism and violence at LPU.

Speaking to the media after the hearing, Additional Solicitor Advocate General Satyapal Jain said the High Court has sought a status report on the Punjab Police's investigation. "A complete status report (has been sought), what action has been taken, who are the culprits, what action has been taken against them, what action is being taken," Jain said. The next hearing is on October 8.

Jain said it was important to identify those behind spreading the misleading information on campus, as he expressed apprehension that a planned conspiracy appears to be behind it.

Raj, the petitioner, submitted that an unverified post was circulated among the students on the night of September 26 claiming that a female student had been raped on the campus and sent home. Students gathered outside the girls' hostel and later blocked National Highway-44, according to the plea.

Also read LPU suspends classes for 10 days, postpones mid-term exams after student protest turns violent

Outsiders enter LPU campus

Later, a large number of outsiders, carrying swords, rods and sickles with their faces covered, reached the LPU campus and broke open the varsity main gates, destroyed CCTV cameras, looted shops and set several places on fire. In the petition, the LPU student submitted that the relevant rules of the IT Act should have been enforced when the misleading rumours spread on the campus. LPU students held a massive protest on Sunday.

Also, they blocked a stretch of the New Delhi-Amritsar Highway outside their campus over claims that an outsider had raped a female student on the university premises.

Violence also broke out on the campus, with students saying that some outsiders with their faces covered indulged in vandalism, damaged property, ransacked shops and also set several places on fire on the LPU campus . Normalcy returned to the LPU campus on Monday, with many students heading home after classes were suspended for 10 days.