Video sting shows masked goons at JNU were from ABVP

A video sting operation by India Today news channel has shown how members of the right-wing Akhil Bharati Vidyarthi Parishad, the students’ arm of the BJP-RSS, were responsible for the mayhem and violence that shook JNU on January 5. As many as two ABVP students of JNU confessed on camera as to how 20 ABVP students from JNU and 20 from outside were involved in the murderous asssault on students and faculty members. They also spoke of the complicity of Delhi Police with the masked attackers. One person, claiming to be an ABVP member, explained how a policeman encouraged them to hit students and how the police switched off street lights so that the gathering of the masked hoodlums could not be seen.

The sting was aired immediately after Delhi Police held a press meet, saying they have identified nine people, including JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh and mostly Left students, as suspects in the JNU violence case. The sting puts the credibility of Delhi Police’s claims in serious doubt. Students and teachers of JNU had been insisting on a judicial probe into the attack. The impartiality of Delhi Police’s investigation faces serious questions now.

A first-year student of French at JNU, Akshat Awasthi identified himself in the footage of Sunday's attack and claimed to be an ABVP activist. A resident of JNU’s Kaveri hostel, he identified himself as armed with a stick, his face covered with a helmet. He could be seen rushing through the hostel corridors in maddening rage and knocking anything and anyone that came his way.

"What did you have in your hand?" a reporter asked Awasthi.

"It was a stick, sir. I pulled it out from a flag lying near [the] Periyar [hostel]."

Asked how he was able to organise the attack in a matter of hours, Awasthi named office-bearers of the ABVP from a separate campus outside. "He's an organizational secretary of the ABVP. I called him. Left-wing students and teachers were holding a meeting at Sabarmati. When Sabarmati was attacked, they all ran away and took shelter inside," Awasthi said.

He also recounted how mobs smashed vehicles and furniture on a street facing the Sabarmati hostel.

"You were telling us that 20 of the ABVP activists belonged to the JNU and 20 others were mobilised from outside," the reporter asked him.

"I can tell you that I did all the mobilisation. They don't have that much mind. You know you need to act like a superintendent or a commander. Why it's to be done and where exactly. I guided them about everything -- where to hide, where to go. I told them to do everything systematically. I didn't have any position or a tag. Still they listened to me carefully," Awasthi said.

The India Today report also showed Akshat Awasthi as part of ABVP demonstrations that took place on the JNU campus a day after the raid.

Awasthi’s fellow classmate Rohit Shah also testified to his involvement in the criminal assault on January 5. He said that he gave his helmet to Awasthi. "It [a helmet] is a must for safety when you smash glass," he said.

He added that the mob spared an ABVP student’s room in the hostel after he informed them about the affiliation of its residents.

When Shah was asked if he was proud of what he had done, he said, "Of course, of course."

Rohit Shah also said there were 20 ABVP activists from JNU who were involved in Sunday’s attack.

In his confessions, Akshat Awasthi claimed that a police officer on duty encouraged the mob to beat up the Leftist students.

"They [police] were inside the campus, not outside. I had called the police myself after a student was injured at Periyar. He met Manish [a student] and told him, 'hit them, hit them'," Awasthi said.

Akshat Awasthi was also asked about the street lights being switched off at the time of the incident. He said, "Admin... I think police."

The reporter asked, “Why did the police do that?”

Awasthi said, “They did not want anyone to see that mobilisation was happening.”

The reporter again asked, “So, the police helped you, the ABVP?”

To which, Awasthi said, “Whose police is it, sir?”

Akshat Awasthi identified several other people, including a masked woman, in the mob as active ABVP members . India Today said it could share information about the suspects with the police including unedited footage.

ABVP and BJP spokespersons have obviously tried to shake off the allegations by saying that neither Awasthi or Shah held any position with ABVP. However, the truth is out there for everyone to see.