Video Producer: Shohini Bose
Video Editor: Vishal Kumar
The Director of Roorkee Institute of Technology, Uttarakhand, has been arrested along with 7 other people, for alleged brutal attacks on two African students.
Ibrahim, a dual citizen of Nigeria and Guinea, is a student of Roorkee Institute of Technology. The administration was allegedly troubled by him repeatedly leaving the college campus without an out-pass, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ibrahim’s friend Eric, however, told The Quint that the administration had not granted an out-pass since March. “Ibrahim used to go out to get food,” said Eric. “And to get his phone and laptop repaired.”
According to Shehzad Ali, SI Police Station Bhagwanpur, the college administration had previously called the cops to have Ibrahim removed from the campus. But the cops had, in turn, advised the administration against it, said Shehzad Ali, and asked them to take it up with the relevant embassy. Clearly discontent with the police response, the authorities wrote to the private security guard agency “Hawk Commando” that was already associated with the college. The agency then, on the request of the authorities, sent 18 men to forcefully remove Ibrahim from the campus.
Dragged Across Two Floors
Visuals that have surfaced since the attack on Ibrahim show a big group of security guards unleashing brutal violence on him. According to the SI Shezad Ali, the attempt at forceful eviction was carried out on the orders of the Institute authorities, and the field officer of the security agency was also present at the spot.
“They dragged Ibrahim from the second floor to the ground floor.”Benjamin
Benjamin, a Ghanian citizen and a friend of Ibrahim’s, heard the chaos from his room and stepped out to help Ibrahim. He too was then attacked by the security guards. “They hit me with bamboo sticks,” Benjamin told The Quint. A little while later, the police arrived at the spot, and Ibrahim and Benjamin were taken to the hospital.
While Benjamin has been treated and released from the hospital, Ibrahim still remains there. “An FIR has been filed under sections 147, 148, 149, 323, 325 and 504,” SI Ali told The Quint.
“Eight of them, including the Director of the institute, the Registrar, and the field officer of the security agency have been arrested.”
Ali said that the institute’s complaint, prima facie, was that Ibrahim used to repeatedly go out of campus without out-pass.
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