On the day the violent attacks took place on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus, there were repeated calls, 23 specifically, made to the Police Control Room (PCR) from inside the campus, but the police did not show up for hours. The police only entered the campus after 7,45 p.m after a written complaint was sent by the Registrar.
According to a report by the Indian Express, one of the key findings of a police report is that the police did not act upon the calls for hours, starting from 2.30 p.m. The report has detailed information on the sequence of events from that day at the campus when almost 100 masked miscreants entered the university campus and unleashed terror on the students and professors. The rampage lasted for three hours and left 36 students, staff and teachers injured.
According to the report, around 2.30 p.m to 3.30 p.m, the PCR received 1 call complaining about a quarrel inside the JNU complex. The caller said that some people with masks on their faces have gathered around the administration building. According to the report, the police “dissuaded them from entering the prohibited 100-metre area”.
From 3.45 p.m to 4.15 p.m, there were about 8 calls made to the PCR “mainly relating to beating of students at Periyar hostel”. About “40-50 miscreants with their faces covered and armed with sticks” barged into the hostel, shouting and attacking students. They also smashed windows and damaged doors before the situation was brought under control with police “intervention,” reported the Indian Express.
From 4.15 p.m to 6 p.m, the PCR received more 14 calls about about “isolated incidents of quarrels and gathering by students”. According to the paper’s sources, when the police tried to verify the calls, “no such incident pertaining to quarrels, beating of students and gatherings were found.”
According to the report, after the Registrar handed over the “Request Letter” that “further reinforcements arrived and a flag march by senior officers was conducted in JNU”, following which “normalcy was restored”.
When contacted by the paper, Registrar Kumar claimed that the police had reached the campus by 6.30 p.m. He said that they had been informally informed before the formal letter could reach.