A road strewn with debris at Aligarh Muslim University after protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, on December 15, 2019. (Photo: PTI)

A fact-finding team reports that security personnel used excessive and brutal force in a crackdown on protesters at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) on Sunday, and that over a dozen students are still missing.

AMU was one of the first campuses to respond to the chaotic, alarming scenes that unfolded in and around Jamia Millia Islamia, a Delhi public varsity, on Sunday. A demonstration against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act turned violent near Jamia's premises, and the Delhi Police responded by entering the university and using what eyewitnesses say was indiscriminate force.

Back at AMU, the protests were "peaceful" until the Jamia incident, according to an official statement.

But "lumpen elements" began instigating protesters and created a potentially volatile situation in which students' lives were at risk, it said.

A fact-finding team of three lawyers visited AMU on Monday and pieced together the events of the previous night by speaking to students and staff. They kept their sources anonymous, they say, because most people they spoke to feared reprisals from both local government and the varsity administration.

Here's a five-point summary of their findings.

1. On Sunday evening, AMU students marching peacefully towards the main campus gate were verbally abused by security forces posted outside, and later attacked with tear gas shells, rubber bullets, stun grenades, pellets and stones. The students dispersed and hid in buildings nearby, but the police and Rapid Action Force personnel entered the campus forcibly anyway.

2. The security personnel paid no heed to requests that they leave the campus. They conducted lathi-charges, used "massive amounts of tear gas, rubber bullets and pellets", raided hostels and mosques, and vandalised students' vehicles.

3. The "clearest evidence" of disproportionate force used "with malafide intent" was a fire that began in a hostel room when the forces cut its window fence and broke the glass pane before firing tear gas inside. The "semi-conscious" students who emerged from the room were "brutally assaulted". One of them is missing.

4. Around 60 students were injured in the crackdown. Three students were critical, including one whose right hand needed to be amputated because an explosive similar to a tear gas grenade blew up in it. Many students who suffered serious injuries were sent back from hospital after first aid just because their wounds weren't life-threatening.

5. Many students were missing or suspected to be under detention, but no details were provided by AMU's management or local government. When winter vacations were announced, unusual pressure from varsity authorities and the prevailing mood of fear caused "a virtual exodus" of students.