Around 100 masked persons had gone on a rampage inside JNU on January 5, leaving 36 people injured. (File photo)
Delhi University student Komal Sharma, who had been summoned by Delhi Police in connection with the January 5 JNU violence, is learnt to have told investigators that she was not present on campus during that time.
According to sources, Sharma was questioned by a special investigation team of the Delhi Police Crime Branch in the second week of March.
Around 100 masked persons had gone on a rampage inside the university for around four hours on January 5, leaving 36 students, teachers and staff injured. Police have been probing allegations that a masked woman seen in one of the videos is Sharma.
Sources told The Indian Express that the SIT tried to summon her by serving a notice over the phone and asking her to join the probe. However, her phone was switched off. Police then sent a notice to her rented accommodation, but she was not present there either.
“In the second week of March, she was asked by the SIT to come outside the JNU campus for questioning. A team of five-six officers questioned her and noted down her statement. In it, she claimed some people were trying to frame her, and denied her involvement in the violence. She also claimed she was not present on the campus that day,” a source said.
On January 9, Delhi Police had released the names of nine suspects — all students, of whom seven were identified as members of Left-student outfits. The other two were from ABVP, though police did not name the outfit. No arrest has been made so far.
After registering an FIR, the SIT of 20 police personnel set up a camp office inside the JNU admin block. But the same team was then asked to probe murder cases during the February Northeast Delhi riots, as well as the case against Maulana Saad and seven others in connection with the spread of coronavirus from Nizamuddin Markaz.
“The SIT has so far questioned 80 people, including 10 suspects whose pictures were released by SIT chief DCP Joy Tirkey. Since then, no briefing has been called. The SIT has recorded statements of injured students, teachers, wardens, security guards and students against whom allegations were made,” said a senior police officer.