Chandigarh Police personnel at Student Centre, Panjab University, Saturday. (Express photo by Kamleshwar Singh)In wake of the upcoming Panjab University (PU) student council elections and for ensuring a violence-free polls, the Chandigarh Police has beefed up the security in and around the university on Saturday by deploying 120 police personnel on PU campus (Sector 14) alone and UIET campus (Sector 25), which is also a part of the university.
The police have informed PU authorities to instruct the students not to campaign after 11 am on Sunday.
Ballot boxes arrive at the PU campus on Saturday. (Express photo by Kamleshwar Singh) As per the Lyngdoh committee recommendations, the campus election campaign must end at least 42 hours prior to the casting of votes.
“As per the Lyngdoh guidelines, student unions are allowed to campaign till 10 am on Sunday. After that they can do door-to-door campaigning, but can’t hold rallies. We urged the PU authorities to instruct the student leaders about it. Apart from it, we have enhanced the number of police personnel on the PU campus and UIET campus. More than 80 barricades have been erected in and around the university campus. Earlier 80 police personnel were deployed on the campuses, but now the number has gone up to 150. We have also deployed two dozen policemen under the supervision of inspector and sub-inspector (SI) rank officers at each college where student elections will held on October 18,” a senior police officer said.
At least 25 police personnel were deployed at DAV College, Sector 10, which is considered to be highly prone to violence followed by Sri Guru Gobind Singh College (SGGSC), Sector 26, and Post Graduate Government College, Sector 46. Barricades have been erected outside the entry gates of these colleges. DAV College falls under the jurisdiction of Sector 3 police station.
Inspector Sukhdeep Singh, Station House Officer (SHO) of Sector 3 police station, said, “Several security measures have been taken. We have already recommended preventive action against eight trouble-maker students under Section 107/150 of the CrPC.”
Sources said at least three incidents of skirmishes between supporters of different student unions were reported in the last one week inside the college.
ABVP supporters campaign on Saturday. (Express photo by Kamleshwar Singh)
4 students held with toy pistol sent to judicial custody
A local court of SDM on Saturday sent the four outsider students, who were arrested for bursting firecrackers with a toy pistol at PU on Friday, to judicial custody in Model Burail jail.
Police said that the four students were found to be associated with Hindustan Student Association (HSA), a student union having a majority of students from Haryana.
DSP (central) Gurmukh Singh Saini said, “The court of SDM took a strict view of the incident. The four outsider students were sent to judicial custody. Any violence, indiscipline, hooliganism will not be tolerated. We have been urging students not to indulge in any kind of mischief.”
The four arrested students were identified as Parth, 24, a law department student of Chandigarh University, Ayaan Narwal, 24, a law student in Solan, Simit, 24, an MSc student from Dehradun, and Manu, 22, a BA student of Government College, Karnal.