The three men were produced in court on Thursday and remanded to three days of police custody. Police have arrested three young men in connection with the vandalism at Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Phagwara, near Jalandhar, last Sunday, after protests over a rumour that a student had been raped.
LPU founder-chancellor Ashok Mittal, a Rajya Sabha MP affiliated with the BJP, said the violence could be part of a “larger conspiracy to harm Punjab”.
Violence broke out on the private university campus after rumours spread among students via social media that a student had been raped. The rumours triggered protests that escalated into vandalism, arson and property damage, and a stretch of the Jalandhar-Phagwara highway was blocked. When asked for details, including the identity of the alleged victim, the location of the incident, or a formal written complaint, the protesters could not provide any information.
“Outsiders” and “anti-social elements” have since been blamed for the violence. Police personnel did not answer further questions from reporters after naming the three arrested persons as “Abhi, Kala and James Dahiya”.
He said he received a phone call on Thursday telling him his nephew had been brought to court.
Outside the court, the maternal uncle of one of the accused said his nephew had been missing for several days. When he got there, he was told only that his nephew had been brought in “in some case”, he said.
