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The Punjab & Haryana High Court has sought a comprehensive status report in the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking CBI probe into a violent incident that occurred at Lovely Professional University (LPU) on Sunday (September 27).

Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor sought detailed report on the status of investigation, action taken by police so far ans verify whether any such alleged incident took place.

During the hearing, Additional AG Chanchal Singla submitted that FIRs have been registered and investigation is going on.

A student of Lovely Professional University (LPU), Phagwara, has approached the High Court seeking transfer of the investigation into the violence on the university campus, which began on the night of September 26, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), under the supervision of the High Court. The petitioner states that the violence is still continuing.

According to the petition, on the night of September 26, an unverified post on Reddit began circulating among LPU students, claiming that a worker had raped a girl student on campus, that the university had sent her home, and that she had subsequently died by suicide. 

Acting on the post and on WhatsApp messages, around 2,000 students gathered outside hostel GH-3, and at about 2:00 a.m., a section of them blocked National Highway 44 between Phagwara and Jalandhar.

The petition alleges that through the night and into the following morning, students and outsiders set several buildings on fire, broke doors, glass panels and turnstile gates, entered buildings, looted goods, and attacked staff members who tried to pacify the crowd.

"Not A Spontaneous Protest"

The petitioner claims to have reliably learnt that a large number of outsiders, men and women mostly around 30 years of age, arrived at the campus, some in open cars and other vehicles. It is alleged that they carried walkie-talkies, brandished swords, rods, guns and sickles, and kept their faces covered to conceal their identity.

These persons, the petition states, forcibly broke open the university's main gates, destroyed or burnt CCTV cameras, computers, UPS units, LED screens, turnstile gates, boom barriers and security offices, attacked security guards, set several places on fire, and looted shops, laptops, mobile phones, bank branches and ATMs on campus.

While the petition states that some LPU hostellers and students living in PG accommodation outside campus were also involved, it asserts that the majority of those involved were outsiders. On this basis, the petitioner contends that the incident was not a spontaneous protest but a "well-planned and organised attack" controlled by persons or organisations in the background, with the intent of defaming the university and disturbing the atmosphere in Punjab.

The petition also refers to violence at Chitkara University, Rajpura, just a night earlier, which it says was set off by similar claims that two girl students had gone missing or died by suicide. In that case, both the university and the police stated that no such incident had occurred.

The petitioner submits that such violence harms the students more than anyone else and has created an atmosphere of terror on campus.

Title: RAVI RAJ v. UOI & Ors.

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