Komal Sharma was deemed to be the woman assailant seen in one of the videos.

NEW DELHI: An office bearer of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad accepted on national television that two of the stick-yielding persons seen in videos on the attack in Jawaharlal Nehru University on January 5 were members of the RSS-affiliated student organisation. ABVP has also conceded that a woman assailant seen in the video is its activist in Delhi University.

Anima Sonkar, joint secretary, Delhi ABVP, however said, "WhatsApp groups spread so much panic, saying there were threats and that if you stepped out, only to do so in groups. They asked people to carry rods, sticks, pepper spray and acid. I am not disowning they are activists of ABVP, Vikas Patel is our activist, but it was all in self-defence."

Patel could not be reached by TOI, but many JNU students confirmed that the ex-student was an ABVP activist. The second person was identified as Sarvender Kumar, student of Centre for West Asian Studies at JNU. However, when TOI contacted his registered phone number, he said, "Wrong number" and disconnected the call. Sonkar did not respond to calls and messages from TOI.

Lalit Pandey, ABVP central university convenor, refuted Sonkar's statement. "Unka statement ka kuch aur matlab nikala ja raha hai," he said. "Why are only we being questioned? It was JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh who was leading the mob and beating up ABVP activists."

Komal Sharma was deemed to be the woman assailant seen in one of the videos. An ABVP office bearer, who request anonymity, admitted, "Komal Sharma is our activist. But now she is very scared and her parents have taken her home. We too haven't been able to speak to her." Since January 5, Sharma's social media handles have been deactivated.

Meanwhile, Akshay Lakra, president, Delhi NSUI, said, "ABVP has accepted that its members were among the masked mob that attacked JNU students and teachers."

