UP students booked for sedition for allegedly raising anti-national slogans

Six students of a college here were booked for sedition after its principal lodged a complaint accusing them of raising "anti-national slogans" during a protest on the institute's campus, police said on Monday.

The students of Saket Degree College allegedly raised the slogans during a demonstration on December 16 against non-conduct of students' union elections.

In his police complaint, Principal N D Pandey said that the students had raised "anti-national" slogans such as "Azaadi le ke Rahenge". He also named the students in his complaint, police said.

The students, however, denied the allegations, saying they were demanding "Azaadi (freedom)" from a corrupt principal and an anti-student system of the college.

On the principal's complaint, police have booked Sumit Tiwari, Shesh Narayan Pandey, Imran Hashmi, Satvik Pandey, Mohit Yadav and Manoj Mishra.

They have been booked under sections 124 A (sedition), 147 (rioting), 188 (disobedience to order ), 332 (causing hurt to deter public servant from duty), 342 (wrongfully confinement), 353 (assault on public servant), 427 (causing damage to property), 435 (mischief by fire or explosive substance) and 506 (offence of criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, police said.

"The students were raising slogans of 'Azaadi' and they wanted to take 'Azaadi' by revolt and by violence. They were raising the slogans, they were trying to burn the nation, and were creating violence. To protect the mother land is my duty and I have filed the complaint against the students," Pandey told PTI.

However, former student union president Abhas Krishna Yadav said the students were raising "Azaadi slogans as they were demanding 'Azaadi' from a corrupt principal and an anti-student system of the college".

They were demanding that the student union elections be held, said Abhas Yadav, a student of the Saket Degree College.