NEW DELHI: In a virtual video war that has broken out between the students of Jamia Millia University and Delhi Police , three new CCTV clips of the December 15 police action on campus have surfaced. The longest one, which lasts for about five minutes, shows the hounding of students and vandalising of university property — furniture and CCTV — inside the reading room by cops who have handkerchiefs tied over their faces. Another shows a group of youths throwing stones at the police while the last one reveals students streaming into the main hall of the library.

These have come close on the heels of footage that had appeared on Sunday showing policemen barging into the library and raining lathi blows indiscriminately on the students and two other clips showing youths entering the reading room and trying to block the entrance. Some appeared to be holding stones or bricks in their hand.

Since the sequence of events is not clear, it is difficult to figure out how the chaos unfolded. The police are verifying the authenticity of the videos and have asked the Jamia authorities to provide the original CCTV footage. An SIT under supervision of the crime branch has been formed to probe the clips. “The SIT will establish the sequence of events after which we will take appropiate action against anyone found guilty. The role of the policemen seen in the video will be covered by the probe,” said Delhi Police spokesperson Mandeep Singh Randhawa .

The first video, recorded from 5.10pm, shows a group of 12 youths pelting stones at the police standing in front of Gate No. 4 that leads to the stadium. When the cops lob a tear gas shell in their direction, they scamper back into the campus. The second video, in two parts and recorded around 6.21 pm, shows students pouring into the main hall of the library. A few are wearing masks or have their faces covered with handkerchiefs. The seen is chaotic and it seems they are taking refuge from cops who are coming for them.

The third one — another version of the clip that circulated on Sunday — shows the door to the PG reading room that’s blocked with chairs and a table being ripped apart by anti-riot cops who are forcing their way in. They allow a university employee and some women students, who emerge with folded hands, to leave but rain lathi blows on the boys all around the room. As the crowd swells near the entrance with the students trying to escape, they have to put up with the cops pounding them with lathis.

Many manage to gradually escape but there are cops waiting outside who thrash them and drive others back into the room. The students are caught in a pincer move. Two cops enter the reading room charge at the youths. They are pushed towards the other entrance of the library. A few hiding under a table are also beaten up. One of the cops then tries to smash a CCTV camera with his lathi.

On Thursday, Jamia Coordination Committee, which had released the earlier videos, claimed that they were not leaking any vidoes. JCC member Safoora Zargar said the way in which the videos were being leaked, it seems the intention is to conduct a media trial and paint the students as culprits. She asked why the “police is yet to bring forward any of their personnel who were so grievously hurt that they had to take revenge on our students. And if they were doing something right, why did the policemen break the CCTV cameras?”

