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As protests over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act rocked the national capital, with violence erupting at several places, Delhi Police on Sunday, 15 December entered the campus of Jamia Millia Islamia university without permission and beat up students and staff, Waseem Ahmed Khan, Chief Proctor of the varsity told news agency ANI.
Dozens of students were detained from the campus, and at least 60 – including students and policemen – got injured in the ruckus.
The detained students were released by Delhi Police in the wee hours of Monday.
Students of Jamia Millia Islamia alleged that policemen entered the university campus and started firing tear gas. A university official told news agency PTI that the police also blocked university gates.
Speaking to The Quint, a student said, “Students who have got injured are trapped inside the reading hall. There is no way to get out of the campus. We are trapped here.”
South East Delhi DCP Chinmoy Biswal told the media that the motive of the police was to “push the mob back.”
“Our only interest is to push the mob back, so law and order can be restored in the area. We have no problem with university (Jamia Millia Islamia university) students,” he said.
Speaking to the media outside the Kalkaji police station, activist Harsh Mander said that 28 students were brought there from Jamia.
According to media reports, a further 20 were detained at the New Friends Colony police station.
At the Al-Shifa multi speciality hospital near the university, about 60-70 injured students are undergoing treatment.
One student is close to losing his eyesight, while there are some who have been injured by the teargas shells. Some have fractured bones in multiple parts of their bodies, The Quint learnt.
As of 9 pm on Sunday, 26 more were admitted to Holy Family Hospital near the campus. Some students have also been admitted to Apollo and AIIMS.
Following the entire episode, protesters, including Jawaharlal Nehru University students, held demonstration at Delhi Police Headquarters, ITO, Delhi Gate and Pragati Maidan.
School and colleges in areas of South Delhi will remain closed on Monday due to the violence. The protests even led to the Delhi Metro halting operations at several places across the national capital.
As many as 17 metro stations also remained shut in the city following the unrest. DMRC announced closing of Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi Gate, Pragati Maidan, ITO, IIT, GTB Nagar, Shivaji Stadium, Vasant Vihar, Munirka, RK Puram, Sukhdev Vihar, Okhla Vihar, Jasola Vihar, Shaheen Bagh, Ashram, Patel Chowk and Vishwavidyalaya.
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