Punjab Police said men with walkie-talkies at Lovely Professional University on Sunday were an Army team led by a Major. They went to check on officers' children studying there. “Army officers’ children study here, and obviously any parent would get worried,” said Special DG Praveen Sinha about the incident.
New Delhi: A group of men seen with walkie-talkies and traditional weapons in their hands during Sunday’s unrest at Lovely Professional University campus in Punjab’s Phagwara were not “outsiders” or “anti-social elements”, as was claimed on social media and by Opposition, but a team of Indian Army personnel led by a Major-rank officer, the Punjab Police said.
The officer produced his defence identity card to authenticate himself and his team, which had been sent by senior officers to check the whereabouts and well-being of their children, who are students at LPU, the police found after an on-the-spot verification.
“They had to come from the local formation of the Army to check on the well-being of two girl students, who are daughters of general rank officers and were pulled aside for questioning,” a police officer told ThePrint. “However, when a Major-rank officer authenticated himself and his team, their names and identities were further verified with a Brigadier-rank officer, who confirmed that they indeed belonged to the Army.”
Initially, the Army personnel had been stopped and questioned by a contingent of the Punjab Armed Police deployed at the university campus. Senior police officers, including Deputy Inspector General Naveen Singla, Kapurthala SSP Gaurav Toora and others, also later verified their identities.
Earlier Monday, Special DG (Law and Order) Praveen Sinha had clarified that all the senior officers present at the site had examined the identities and backgrounds of the men seen in the videos.
“I want to clarify…What you are referring to as a sickle was a khukhri. Army officers’ children study here, and obviously any parent would get worried. So some Army officers and personnel, in a team of five-six individuals, had come to verify…The main road was blocked, and hence they were walking on foot. Students, as well as our teams, saw them with walkie-talkies, and we took aside to verify their identities. They were senior-level officers (Major), and one of the Jawans had the traditional weapon with him, while one officer had the walkie-talkie. Major had the identity card,” Sinha told media persons Monday.
“We also verified with the students who they had come to meet, and then asked about their welfare. We were also satisfied, and they were, too, and then they went back.”
The heavily circulated videos of men with walkie-talkies and sickle-like weapons on social media had even Opposition parties questioning the Bhagwant Mann-led government and accusing Punjab Police of failing to rein in the alleged anti-social elements who caused violence on the LPU campus.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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