'Mistaken Identity': Cops After Booking BHU Student For Aligarh Violence

Vipin Kumar, a 20-year-old student in Varanasi, was at the BHU hostel during the violence in Aligarh.

BHU student Vipin Kumar was booked over violence in Aligarh.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

Amid widespread violent protests against the Centre's recently announced Agnipath scheme, an 18-year-old UP youth, studying in Varanasi, landed in troubled waters after his name featured in an FIR registered for violence in Aligarh on Friday, 17 June.

After The Quint broke the story, police put out a statement claiming this could be a case of mistaken identity.

"The investigation is ongoing. It came to light during the investigation that another person named Vipin from the same village is a suspect in the incident. Arrests will be made based on the evidence collected during the investigation," Aligarh police tweeted from its official handle.

Student in Varanasi, FIR for Violence in Aligarh

Following the massive violence by a mob agitating against the Agnipath scheme in Tappal area in Aligarh on 17 June, four FIRs have been registered in connection to violence where the irate mob torched a UP Roadways bus and a police outpost.

In one of the FIRs (0227), a case under several IPC sections was registered against 66 named suspects and 400-450 other unidentified. One among those named accused is Vipin Kumar, a resident of Ghanghauli village in Tappal area in Aligarh.

However, Vipin has claimed he is a BSc Mathematics (Honours) student of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in Varanasi and was on the campus premises on 17 June. When he spoke to local police claiming he was wrongfully named in the FIR, the latter allegedly asked him to surrender.

"Police have randomly put names in the FIR. They have no proof against me as I have not been to my native place for close to two months now. I have several alibis to prove that I was not in Aligarh at the time of violence on 17 June. There are CCTV cameras outside Broacha hostel in BHU. My warden can vouch for my presence in the hostel. My hostel mess record will also show that I was in the hostel on 17 June," Vipin Kumar said.

The hostel records produced by Vipin do indeed show he has been on the campus for the entire month of June and has been regularly having meals from the hostel mess.

He also produced a screenshot of a payment made to a fruit juice vendor in Varanasi on 17 June. Vipin claimed he is in the process of gathering CCTV visuals from the campus which will prove his innocence.

Vipin's hostel records.

Vipin's hostel records.

Vipin's hostel records.

Vipin's hostel records.

Samajwadi Party Demands High-Level Probe

Seeking a high-level probe in the matter, Samajwadi Party took potshots at the ruling party.

"Another atrocity of the BJP government working round the clock to crush the democratic rights of students to protest has come to the fore. Filing a case in Aligarh against a student having his meal in BHU hostel exposes the real character and face of the ruling authorities," the official handle of the Samajwadi Party tweeted.

When contacted, Aligarh senior superintendent of police (SSP) Kalanidhi Naithani, even while refraining to comment directly on whether Vipin would be exonerated in the investigation, said, "if there's no evidence, no arrest."