A prolonged unrest ensued between students of the Lalit Kala Kendra (LKK) and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists over a play on Friday evening, February 2, at the Savitribai Phule Pune University, reported PTI.
Inspector did not alert others on time
But the scuffle resulted in the suspension of a policeman of sub-inspector rank after he failed to act when members of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) and ABVP threw ink and damaged a notice board at the Lalit Kala Kendra on the premises of Savitribai Phule Pune University, an official said on Sunday, February 4.
The policeman was deployed on the campus to control the students engaged in the scuffle.
The police sub-inspector (PSI), Sachin Gandekar, attached to the Chaturshringi police station, was deployed there to control the situation but did nothing, according to an official.
"Being a responsible officer, he should have acted. However, he neither called for help nor alerted the seniors. This amounts to dereliction of duty. The said officer has been suspended for his act," said the official.
Professor and students arrested
The RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) complained against a professor and five students for allegedly hurting religious sentiments by staging the play concerning Ramleela, which reportedly had objectionable dialogues and scenes. After this, as per PTI reports, the students and the professor were arrested by the police.
As per the first information report (FIR) lodged against them, a male artiste portraying Sita was shown smoking a cigarette and using abusive language. It also stated that when members of ABVP objected to the play and stopped the performance, they were later heckled and assaulted by the performing artists of the LKK.
