Over 600 security personnel deployed at JNU fee hike protest, students were not lathicharged, claim Delhi Police
FirstpostThousands of JNU students clashed with the police as their protest over a steep fee hike escalated, leaving HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ stranded for over six hours at the venue of the varsity’s convocation New Delhi: Over 600 security personnel were deployed to handle the protest on Monday by the Jawaharlal Nehru Students’ Union against the varsity administration’s recent decisions, but the “students were not lathicharged”, officials said. Thousands of JNU students clashed with the police as their protest over a steep fee hike escalated, leaving HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ stranded for over six hours at the venue of the varsity’s convocation. Another officer said, barricades were raised outside the north and west gates of JNU in anticipation of the protest early morning and four barricades were placed on the route between the JNU campus and the AICTE building but the students broke through them one after the other and reached the convocation venue around 10.30 am. When the protests escalated and the students refused to leave the venue, even after the office-bearers were allowed to meet the HRD minister, police in anti-riot gear were brought to the front of the gate and they quelled the protesters to make way for the convoy of the minister around 4.15 pm, an officer said.