LPU mall looted during unrest as university reviews CCTV footage
Shops at Lovely Professional University’s Uni Mall were vandalised and looted during protests that turned violent, with shopkeepers reporting the theft of gaming consoles, phones, laptops, perfumes and cash. The university is examining 30 to 40 students and says outsiders may also have been involved; police have formed an SIT.
Electronics, phones, gaming consoles, perfumes and cash were taken from shops at Lovely Professional University’s Uni Mall after protests on the campus turned violent over the weekend. The mall, located inside the university’s Phagwara campus, was vandalised during the night of September 26 and 27. Shopkeepers said glass counters were smashed, shelves emptied and even devices left by customers for repair were stolen.
Reported losses included Sony PlayStation 5 consoles, laptops, mobile phones, accessories and high-end perfumes. One departmental-store manager said ₹6-7 lakh in cash was missing and estimated the store’s total losses at ₹80-90 lakh. Other shopkeepers also described losses running into tens of lakhs.
Bookshops were reportedly left untouched while surrounding stores were ransacked. Videos shared on social media showed masked people carrying goods from the mall, although the source material does not establish who all those involved were. Some LPU students have alleged that outsiders participated in the looting.
Other videos appear to show people claiming students were involved. The university has placed about 30 to 40 students under scrutiny and is reviewing CCTV footage and other material. Dean of Student Welfare Professor Sourabh Lakhanpal said masked outsiders carrying rods appeared in videos, while stressing that any wider conspiracy remained under investigation.
It has not been independently established that all those involved were students. The unrest followed claims circulating among students and on social media that a female student had been sexually assaulted. LPU rejected the allegations as false, baseless and fabricated.
Police registered a case and formed a special investigation team to examine both the allegations and the violence. Traffic was also disrupted on the Jalandhar-Phagwara section of the national highway.
This independently written report is based on information supplied by the named publisher. Vertrix News has not independently verified the source report.