Protest against JNU campus violence live updates.

NEW DELHI: Facing flak over their passive role outside the gates of JNU on Sunday when goons were on the rampage inside, and amidst allegations that those who attacked students had been allowed to get away, Delhi Police tried to do damage control on Monday. An FIR was filed and the police chief assigned the investigation to the crime branch. This was after Union home minister Amit Shah asked for a report.On a day marked by expression of widespread outrage across the country and accounts by JNU students of the nightmare on Sunday when no one seemed to be safe, the police said they had received written permission from the university registrar to enter the main campus only at 7.45pm though they had reached the administrative block by 7 pm. The JNU administration had claimed in a statement earlier that the violence had broken around 4.30pm and they had "immediately" called the police. No one could explain this three-hour delay which virtually gave the goons a free run of the campus, leading to accusations of complicity and conspiracy.PCR sources said about 50 SOS calls were received by the Delhi Police control room between 4pm and 5pm. The police reached the university and waited for permission even as the violence escalated. The scale was evident with students on Monday seen with bandaged heads, plastered legs and hands, broken fingers and blood-stained clothes. The condition of the men's wing at Sabarmati Hostel indicated the viciousness of the attack.Police officials said they were treading with caution following the Jamia protests when they were accused of using excessive force on students and entering the university without permission. Many men from the junior constabulary said they were asked to avoid confrontation and wait for orders. This, however, didn't square up with their looking the other way when students, teachers, political functionaries and even reporters were being attacked outside the gate by a mob.There was no explanation for the streetlights being switched off either. What's worse, armed goons were still moving around without being challenged by the cops.The police has formed a fact-finding committee headed by joint commissioner (western range) Shalini Singh to probe the response of the police.Asked how so many armed men had managed to enter the university, a senior officer, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "The entry to the JNU complex is from various gates and people who have access or know anyone inside the campus are allowed to go in after security formalities by their own private agency. The gate close to the media institute is small and anyone can jump in and out easily. People can even enter and escape through the jungle area." The officer added that the cops deployed inside the campus at the administrative block are not armed.Delhi Police spokesperson Mandeep Singh Randhawa denied any laxity on their part. "There had been incidents of violence in the campus over the registration process since January 4 due to which a police team was present at the administrative block. However, after 5pm, we had received calls from the hostel areas about scuffles. We can go to this area only with a written permission from the JNU administration. Police initiated action only after permission was received," said Randhawa. However, mobile clips from the campus showed youths holding sticks leaving the campus with cops in the vicinity.On Monday, crime branch officials went to the campus and secured CCTV and mobile footage that had been circulated on social media and among students. They will also identify those in the mob who have been recognised by the students and also the unidentified persons amidst allegations that they belonged to ABVP. WhatsApp groups are being scanned and allegations of code words being used by students to identify each other while vandalising the hostels being looked into. The police is also recording the statement of the 34 injured students who have been discharged from hospital. Entries in the register at the gate are also being scrutinised.The FIR in this case, registered under sections of rioting and damaging public property, states that the violence in campus began around 3.45pm. An inspector and a few other cops had been deployed at the administrative block to prevent any protests as per court orders. They were informed that some students were being beaten up at Periyar Hostel. The inspector, who is the complainant in the FIR, has said in his statement that he and others reached the hostel where 40-50 unknown people - with their faces covered with mufflers and clothes - wielding lathis were seen hitting students. They ran away after the police officers arrived.Violence erupted once again around 6.45pm during a march by the teachers after which six PCR teams and cops from the Vasant Kunj police station reached the campus around 7pm. However, they were stopped at the administrative block. Police sources say that when they entered, lights in the campus were switched off and stones were thrown at PCR vehicles too. The cops then had to wait for reinforcements to arrive. During this time, the miscreants also prevented some ambulances from taking away the injured students from the hostels."At least 50 people were damaging property at the hostel and outside. Through our public announcement system, we requested them to stop the violence and asked them to disperse. Some students started running away, and in between all this, some of the students and professors sustained injuries and sent to hospital," said the inspector in the FIR. Only after a written communication was sent by the administration requesting intervention were 200 cops sent in.