New Delhi: Two members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), arrested for allegedly attacking a group of All India Students' Association (AISA) supporters, were today suspended from the RSS-backed outfit for their act of "indiscipline".
The accused, Prashant Mishra and Vinayak Sharma, allegedly strangulated AISA activists Raj Singh and Utkarsh Bhardwaj near Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College yesterday evening.
"We condemn this act by the two students and advocate a violence-free atmosphere on campus. On basis of preliminary information, the two members have been suspended from the party for their act of indiscipline. An interim enquiry has been ordered to take further action," ABVP national media convener Saket Bahuguna said.
Utkarsh and Raj had claimed that they were attacked by seven to eight people near Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College and strangulated with belts.
The incident happened when the AISA activists were returning from the Arts Faculty of the North Campus around 5.20 PM after the anti-ABVP march ended.
Prashant and Vinayak were then nabbed from the spot by police.
They have been booked under IPC sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), police said.
Hundreds of students and teachers of Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Jamia Millia held a march yesterday with a call to "save" the varsities from the "onslaught" of ABVP and "curbing" of dissent, nearly a week after the violence in Ramjas College.
The protesters, mainly comprising students of left forums like All India Students' Association (AISA), shouted slogans "ABVP Go Back" and "Azaadi" as the march made its way through the roads of North Campus towards the Arts Faculty building.
Many held banners demanding the right to freedom of speech and condemning the ABVP for the February 21-22 disturbances in the otherwise placid campus.
There was heavy police deployment to prevent a rerun of the clashes that were witnessed between ABVP and AISA on February 21 following cancellation of an event at Ramjas College after activists of the RSS-backed students' wing objected to the invitation to JNU student leaders Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid.
Khalid was charged with sedition last year.
The next day, ABVP activists were accused of attacking students, teachers and journalists during a protest march in the Delhi University campus.
