In a detailed 13-page report, the Delhi police told the Delhi high court that JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar had not only participated in the event where anti-national slogans were allegedly raised in
In a detailed 13-page report, the Delhi police told the Delhi high court that JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar had not only participated in the event where anti-national slogans were allegedly raised in the JNU campus, but had “actually organised” the programme. The police also sought fresh remand of Mr Kumar to further investigate and question him along with fellow JNU student Umar Khalid, who surrendered on Tuesday night.
The court has deferred the hearing of Mr Kumar’s bail plea till Monday and has given strict directive to the cops to “avoid any unpleasant incident.”
The police claimed that if Mr Kumar is granted bail, it would send a “very wrong signal” to the student community across the country that such alleged anti-India activities can be conducted with immunity and eventually one comes out after imprisonment of couple of weeks or days.
During the hearing, when the issue of safety and security of the accused was raised, the bench observed, “We have to ensure that no one suffers even a scratch this time. The registrar-general of the Delhi high court and the police should ensure that no ruckus, as happened in the past, should take place while the accused are being produced.”
In its order, the high court also directed the registrar-general to depute a metropolitan magistrate for the purpose of conducting remand proceedings and asked DCP (South) Prem Nath, who was present in the courtroom during the hearing, to coordinate with the registrar-general for this.
Justice Pratibha Rani was also informed about the police claim that besides Mr Kumar and other accused, some “foreign elements” were also present during the event on February 9 in the JNU campus and they had covered their faces to hide their identity.
“During the course of the investigation, statements of various eye-witnesses, who were found present on the spot, were recorded. It has come during the course of investigation that accused Kanhaiya (Kumar), the petitioner herein (for bail), not only participated in the said event but actually organised the same in connivance with other accused persons,” the police said in its status report.
“It is pertinent to mention here that shockingly the incident dated February 9 records the presence of foreign (elements) with their mouths covered which sufficiently came during the course of investigation. The investigation agency is looking for linkage between the petitioner (Mr Kumar), his co-accused and the said foreign elements who were hiding their identity by covering their faces,” the report said.
Opposing Mr Kumar’s bail plea, the police said it was “an open secret” that the event has ramifications not only within India, but has “an international impact” as well.
The investigation of the present case is at a stage and in case the liberty of bail is granted to the petitioner, the very line of investigation will be adversely affected, the police report said.
The report, which was filed on the court’s direction, said the unedited video footage of the incident, which was procured from a private news channel, was “not the footage which is being debated as “doctored” in various sections, including petitioner as alleged by the media.”
“But it is a totally different and contemporaneously recorded raw unedited video footage. However, the video is not the sole evidence on the basis of which the investigation is proceeding with,” it said.
“After the seditious act of the petitioner (Mr Kumar) and the co-accused, the said anti-national perception has percolated in other parts of the country and there are stray instances wherein processions were taken out ‘honouring’ the ‘martyrdom’ of Afzal Guru, Maqbool Bhat etc.”
“If the petitioner is released on bail, he can become a rallying point to encourage such anti-India movements which would not only spread disaffection, but would also be contemptuous since the conviction recorded by the competent courts, including the Supreme Court, is termed as ‘judicial killing,’ which according to the petitioner and co-accused persons is the result of ‘Brahminical collective conscience,’” it said.
The police said it was analysing CCTV footage provided by the JNU authorities and was probing whether “any person with a possible anti-national background had entered and or stayed in the complex that may have a direct nexus with commencement of a possible anti-national movement in the country since some persons hiding their faces are found to be present.”
The report said that the police has identified the students who were leading the procession and were found shouting slogans which were “anti-national, anti-constitutional, against the organs of the government and against the sovereignty and integrity of the nation.”
The police said it was conducting a probe regarding the persons and organisations which were behind such “non-educational activities in the campus and the object behind it in the larger national perspective.”
