HC asks cops to seize phones of WhatsApp group members who planned JNU attack

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked WhatsApp and Google to preserve and provide information related to the JNU violence to police.

The court also asked police to seize at the earliest phones of members of two WhatsApp groups on which the January 5 violence was allegedly coordinated.

Justice Brijesh Sethi directed the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration to provide at the earliest the CCTV footage of the violence sought by police.

The court's observations came on the plea filed by JNU professors Ameet Parameswaran, Atul Sood and Shukla Vinayak Sawant seeking directions to the Delhi Police Commissioner and Delhi government.

On January 5, a mob of masked men stormed the campus and targeted students in three hostels, unleashing mayhem with sticks, stones and iron rods by hitting inmates and breaking windows, furniture and personal belongings.

Three FIRs have been registered at Vasant Kunj (north) police station in connection with the incident.