Classes suspended amid unrest, LPU students leave campus; CM Mann vows action
Regular classes at Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Punjab's Phagwara have been suspended for 10 days following Sunday's violent protests over allegations that a female student was raped by an outsider. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has vowed strict action against those responsible for the violence.
In the wake of the flare-up, the university has also postponed its mid-term examinations until further notice. Mobile internet has been suspended on the LPU campus and surrounding areas since midnight.
Amid heavy police deployment at all campus gates, students have started leaving for their hometowns, many of them from outside Punjab.#WATCH | Phagwara, Punjab | Latest visuals from Lovely Professional University (LPU) where heavy Police deployment has been made and students are leaving for their homes. Regular classes have been suspended here for 10 days from 28th September; mid-term examinations have also pic.twitter.com/zvYhcgLvrn— ANI (@ANI) September 28, 2026#WATCH | Lovely Professional University (LPU) matter | Phagwara, Punjab: Heavy Police deployment at Lovely Professional University (LPU) following the protest by students that turned violent yesterday. Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav has also reached here. pic.twitter.com/SZwNxTwXUk— ANI (@ANI) September 28, 2026
According to a statement from his office, Chief Minister Mann has ordered strict action against those responsible for Sunday's violence and directed DGP Gaurav Yadav to visit the campus and assess the situation.
SP (Investigation) Harinder Gill said the situation had remained peaceful since Sunday night.
“There is no protesting or anything as of now. We have made a large-scale deployment of police at all gates of the campus,” he said.WHAT HAPPENED ON SUNDAY
The protest began near Girls' Hostel-3 around 1 am on Sunday after students alleged that a female student had been raped by a plumber three days earlier and claimed the hostel warden had been informed, but no action was taken.
Students later blocked NH-44 outside the university from around 8 am, severely disrupting traffic. The standoff continued through the day and escalated in the evening when police moved to clear the highway.
Students threw water bottles, stones at the police, and also attacked their vehicles, prompting the authorities to resort to amild lathi charges.
Two police vehicles were set on fire and several police personnel were injured, officials said.
Additional forces were called in from nearby districts and the situation was eventually brought under control.
Police said an FIR has been registered against an unknown person based on the students' statement regarding the alleged rape. An SIT has also been formed to investigate the allegation.
DIG (Jalandhar Range) Naveen Singla said forensic samples, CCTV footage and call records would be examined as part of the probe.UNIVERSITY REACTION
The university, however, has maintained that there was no truth in the rape allegation.
LPU Registrar Monica Gulati said certain anti-social elements were spreading “false, baseless and fabricated” allegations and creating confusion among students.
The university also released a video statement of three female students from Room No. 504 of the hostel, who claimed that no rape incident had taken place.- Ends
Kamaljit Sandhu is an award winning journalist working as Deputy Editor in India Today. She has nearly two decades of experience as a full time TV journalist. She covers "conflict" regions, Internal security matters, MEA and Parliament. Her work has often led to crisscrossing the country. She has also traveled to Pakistan and Iran, in pursuit of news stories. In 2019, she received the ENBA Award for best news programming for her ground report on "surviving Bastar" which was based on the government's policy on inducting tribals in Crpf in chattisgarh to counter naxals.
Personal interests: Kamaljit likes travelling, interior decoration and playing scrabble, Has varied interests in sporting activities like swimming, badminton and Yoga.
