House of disabled DU professor raided for 'storing stolen property'

A joint team of Maharashtra and Delhi police on Thursday raided the house of a disabled DU professor for allegedly using the residence to store stolen property, police said.

The residence of Delhi University English professor G N Saibaba, teaching at Ram Lal Anand College, was raided by a team of around 50 personnel of Maharashtra and Special Cell of Delhi Police at around 3 pm, police said.

Delhi police, however, refused to give any further details. The incident was condemned by a group of DU teachers who have alleged that the act was "invasion of privacy and violation of basic rights" of the DU professor.

In a statement, the teachers have alleged that police, during the raid, had confined Saibaba and his family, including his 15-year-old daughter, and that they were prevented from making or receiving any calls. The teachers also claimed that they were not allowed to meet Saibaba when they had gone to meet him and added that his daughter was "terrified by the police into keeping quiet".

"The police confiscated a large number of files, pen-drives, a laptop, and all the three mobile phones belonging to the family, none of which items were 'stolen property'," the teachers alleged.

"Saibaba was not allowed to call his lawyer or any of his colleagues to ensure that the investigation would be a fair and transparent one," the statement said.

The teachers also said police denied their requests to keep at least one phone with Saibaba's family considering his disability.

"We are deeply concerned that a pattern of targetting university students and teachers is emerging, whereby police forces of the country are clamping down on any attempt to question or protest against government policies, especially in the supposedly safe spaces of the university, in the name of protecting national security.  "The charge of harbouring 'stolen property' is particularly outrageous, baseless and ridiculous. We condemn the complicity and silence of the university administration in this action and demand that they immediately assure Saibaba and his family that there will not be a repeat of such an incident," the statement said.

The new president of Delhi University Teachers Association, Nandita Narain, was among the 14 teachers who signed the statement.