Taking suo motu cognizance of the violence in Lucknow University, the Allahabad High Court today summoned its top officials, besides the UP DGP to explain the attack, prompting the police chief to ask an inspector general rank officer to probe the campus clashes.
Amid the developments at the high court, Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police O P Singh acted swiftly and handed over the the probe into the violence to Lucknow Range IGP Sujeet Pandey, transferred Circle Officer Anurag Singh and suspended university police outpost in-charge Pankaj Mishra.
The DGP's action came after a delegation of Lucknow University (LU) teachers led by Vice Chancellor S P Singh called on him here this afternoon.
Taking serious note of the incident, the DGP assured the VC of strict action against those who indulged in violence and asked the teachers to go back to work.
"I have handed over the probe into the Lucknow varsity violence to IG (Lucknow range). I have transferred the circle officer concerned and suspended the LU police outpost in-charge," the DGP said.
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"I have also assured the teachers of strict action and have appealed to them to return to their work," he said.
While summoning the University's vice chancellor, registrar and proctor, the UP DGP, the Lucknow bench of the high court also ordered Lucknow senior superintendent of police to be present before it and explain the incident.
The order was issued by a bench of justices Vikram Nath and Rajesh Singh Chauhan following media reports of a group of students assaulting the vice chancellor and other top officers of the university yesterday.
The VC, the registrar and the SSP were asked to be present before the bench at 10.15 am tomorrow and explain as to why the police did not respond promptly when the LU authorities informed it about the imminent attack.
The court also asked the two top police officers to detail the steps taken in the wake of violence to improve the security situation in the university campus.
The court took on record the copies of a Hindi and an English daily and directed its registry to register the matter as a Public Interest Litigation with its title as 'Lucknow University Vandalism'.
Expressing annoyance over the incident and questionable role of the local police, the bench said, "It is unfortunate and extremely painful that the students have the courage, audacity and boldness to enter the premises from where they have been expelled and create physical violence and attack the vice chancellor, teachers and staff of the university."
In its order, the court noted, "In all the leading newspapers of Lucknow, one of the front-page news is about the attack on the teachers of LU, forcing the vice chancellor to close the university indefinitely (sine die) and stalling the entire admission process for the Academic Year 2018-19."
"The reports further mentions that on July 4, 2018 a group of about 25 students, which included some of the students who had been expelled, entered the University premises firstly around 11.30 AM and surrounded the vice chancellor and raised slogans and also threatened him of dire consequences and demanded re-admission.
"Later again at about 1.30 PM, when the VC was returning from a function inside the University premises, these students again attacked the vice chancellor and his security. Some 10 teachers of the university were injured along with several security and other staff of the university," the bench wrote in its order.
The bench further noted in its order that the newspaper reports mentioned that the police was informed about the likelihood of the expelled students creating ruckus, but despite the same, the local police did not take appropriate measures to control the situation which was apprehended by the University administration.
The university was closed till further orders yesterday after a group of students protesting over admission to the new academic session reportedly attacked teachers, injuring over a dozen of them, officials said.
The LU vice chancellor said the youths claimed they were from the Samajwadi Party.
"Over a dozen teachers were injured in the incident. I might have also been attacked by them but my colleagues saved me and I reached my office," he told reporters here yesterday.
"All those involved in the incident were not LU students, and were anti-social elements and outsiders claiming themselves to be SP workers. There were 25-30 such persons involved in the attack," he said.
When asked when the university planned to reopen, the VC said, "It has been closed till further orders."
Among the teachers injured were Proctor Vinod Singh and Chief Provost Sangita Rani, university officials said.
Some university guards were also hurt in the incident.
"Three persons have been arrested in this connection. We are awaiting a complaint by the university administration," Trans Gomti SP Harendra Kumar said.
A group of over 20 ex-students of the varsity had been protesting on the campus since Monday, alleging that they were denied admission to postgraduate courses because they had taken part in an agitation against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
They had allegedly obstructed Adityanath's convoy in June last and waved black flags, opposing his visit to the campus. The police had then arrested 11 students.
When asked about the row over admissions, the VC said, "There are laid down procedures for admission to the university. It cannot be given against norms.
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