Jamia Violence: Fresh CCTV Footage Shows Delhi Police Thrashing Unarmed Students In University Library

In a new CCTV footage of the Delhi Police crackdown on the students of Jamia Milia Islamia University, on December 15, the cops dressed in riot gear were seen entering the reading hall and thrashing unarmed students with lathis.

In the footage, students can be seen sitting in the reading hall as the Delhi Police barges in and starts beating them up with batons and damaging property. As the students try to escape, the cops can be seen hitting them continuously.

The Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC), a group of students and alumni of the university has released the footage.

"The CCTV footage shows the brutal act of police forces and how the state-sponsored terrorists are playing the game of brutality on the students of Jamia who were preparing for their examination inside the Old Reading Hall of Library," the committee wrote in a statement.

Reacting to the footage, Delhi Police claimed that the case has been transferred to the Crime Branch and the video is being analysed and probed.

Ahmad Azeem, the PRO of Jamia University said, "Prima facie, the CCTV footage seems to be of MPhil and PhD section in Dr Zakir Husain Library. We have also come to know that the footage has been released by Jamia Coordination Committee. Delhi Police is investigating the case."

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi took to Twitter to express her outrage over the video.

"After watching this video, if action is not taken on the violence in Jamia, the intention of the government will be completely exposed to the country," she added.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor also called for punishment for the policemen involved in the brutal act.

"CCTV footage has emerged showing police assaulting Jamia students without provocation. Horrifying. Exemplary punishment must be levied on these lawless policemen," he wrote on Twitter.

The Incident

On December 15, protesters had torched four public buses and two police vehicles after they clashed with the Delhi police near Jamia Millia Islamia during an anti-CAA demonstration. The incident left nearly 60 people including students and cops injured.

To curb the protest, the police took to batons and teargas shells to disperse the violent mob. The police, however, denied firing at the protesters.

As the protests grew violent, the police barged into the University, where several unarmed students were detained for their alleged involvement in the violence.

An internal report of the university administration sought judicial probe into the entry of Delhi Police inside the campus without any permission, use of force on students who were in the library. The report had also found damage to properties in the university amid the police crackdown.

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