LPU Unrest: Three FIRs Filed After Violent Protests, 18-Hour NH-44 Blockadeਐੱਲਪੀਯੂ ਹਿੰਸਾ: ਤਿੰਨ ਐਫਆਈਆਰ ਦਰਜ, NH-44 'ਤੇ 18 ਘੰਟੇ ਰਿਹਾ ਜਾਮ

Punjab Police have registered three separate first information reports (FIRs) in connection with the violent student unrest at Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Phagwara, where thousands of students took to the streets and blocked the national highway for around 18 hours over alleged assault claims that remain unverified.

The protests, which began in the early hours of Sunday, September 27, were triggered by messages circulating on social media alleging that a female student of the G3 hostel had been raped by an outsider. Police say the claims are unsubstantiated and under investigation, while the university has described them as rumours.

How the unrest unfolded

According to police, around 2,000 students gathered near the girls' hostel before the protest escalated. Demonstrators vandalised campus property, set objects on fire, and then blocked the Jalandhar-Phagwara section of the highway — a stretch of NH-44 — in the early hours of Sunday.

Deputy Inspector General (Jalandhar Range) Naveen Singla, who reached the campus, said the students' primary demand was that action be taken over the alleged incident three days earlier. 'We have recorded their statement and initiated the registration of an FIR, and they will receive a copy shortly,' he told the media.

Three FIRs and an SIT probe

Police have now registered three FIRs linked to the violence. The latest, registered by Phagwara police, books unidentified students and non-students under Section 285 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 8B of the National Highways Act over the highway blockade. An earlier FIR was registered against an unknown person on the students' complaint, and a Special Investigation Team led by Phagwara SP Major Singh has been formed to investigate.

Officials have stressed that the alleged crime itself remains unproven — police found no evidence to confirm it, and the identity of the supposed victim is unclear. The SIT's probe will determine the facts.

University calls it a conspiracy of rumours

LPU has maintained that no such incident took place on its campus. Chancellor Ashok Mittal described the episode as a 'conspiracy' against Punjab, the university and Hindu-Sikh unity. The university suspended classes for ten days as a precaution.

Highway reopened

Traffic on NH-44 resumed after the blockade, which lasted roughly 15 to 18 hours, police said. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann ordered action on the unrest and asked the DGP to visit the campus. The situation is now under control, though a heavy police deployment remains around the university.