Security beefed up at AMU after altercation between students, TV crew

Security has been beefed up at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) after some students and a TV channel crew got into an altercation over reports of a visit by AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi, police said Wednesday.

Rapid Action Force was deployed around the campus as a precautionary measure amid other protests, including one in which a motorcycle belonging to a ABVP member was set on fire, a senior police officer said.

It was not immediately clear if this incident was also related to Owaisi's visit.

ABVP activists staged a protest near Faiz gate of the university after some media reports claimed the AIMIM leader was invited to address a function organised by the AMU Students' Union Tuesday.

They demanded that he be banned from entering the campus. Owaisi, however, did not turn up.

An AMU spokesman said a TV channel team, which had come to cover the anticipated event, had an altercation with some students while they were filming inside the campus.

The spokesman said the channel had not sought permission from authorities for live coverage and when university staff members pointed this out, there was a heated exchange in which some students were also involved.

Media persons claimed they were roughed up by some students while they were filming on the campus and their camera was smashed.

Complaints were lodged at the Civil Lines Police Station, by both by the AMU authorities and the TV channel crew.

A complaint was also filed by some Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members, who alleged that they were beaten up near the Faiz Gate and a motorcycle, belonging to one of them, was set on fire.

Senior Superintendent of Police Akash Kulhari told PTI that a number of complaints were given by different groups at the Civil Lines police station and the police were still in the process of filing these reports.

Meanwhile, a large group of students from the university gathered at Bab-e-Syed gate, demanding the suspension of Ajay Singh, a prominent ABVP leader who is a postgraduate student in the Faculty of Law.

He is the grandson of BJP MLA Dalvir Singh.

Late last night, cases under sections 124-A (sedition), section 307 (attempt to murder) and eight other sections of the IPC have been registered against nine students of the AMU, including the President of Union Salman Imtiaz and the vice president of AMU Students Union Huzaifa Aamir on the complaint of ABVP activist Mukesh Lodhi.

He has alleged that while he was driving across the AMU circle, these students surrounded him and launched a murderous assault and raised pro-Pakistan slogans.

Meanwhile, the police confirmed that two more complaints were received at Civil Lines police station on behalf of AMU students and AMU officials.

He said these reports were being examined and FIR will be filed "after due investigation".

AMU has issued an advisory to the students asking them "not to move out of campus as a precautionary measure".