Bulldozers deployed at Shri Ramswaroop University in Barabanki

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists, who were lathi-charged on September 1 for protesting against private university authorities, took a U-turn on Saturday when district authorities demolished a portion inside the university.

Bulldozers were deployed inside the campus of Shri Ramswaroop University in Barabanki on Saturday as part of a major crackdown on alleged illegal encroachments on government land.

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The demolition began around 3:30 PM, starting with a newly constructed Animal House on the university premises.

Administrative teams, including officials from the Nawabganj Tehsil, revenue department, and local police, arrived at the scene earlier in the day, accompanied by two bulldozers. The entire area was transformed into a heavily guarded zone as the operation commenced.

The action comes in response to complaints, reportedly filed by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), regarding illegal encroachments on village community land and government ponds within the university campus. A subsequent investigation by the revenue department confirmed the allegations, prompting the Tehsil administration to take swift action.

The university has allegedly occupied nearly two hectares of Gram Sabha (village community) land in Khujer village, under the Deva block, for the past 17 years.

Local village head (Pradhan) Ramnath Yadav had been raising complaints with various administrative officials, including the Tehsildar and SDM, since April 2025. Despite sending multiple letters, no action was taken until tensions between students and the university management escalated earlier this month.

According to villagers and official complaints, the university encroached on not just village land but also two ponds, public pathways, and drainage land. The issue dates back to 2013, when the former village Pradhan, Rani, also filed similar complaints that went unheeded.

Following a violent altercation between students and university officials on September 1, during which police had to resort to baton charges, public outrage grew stronger. It was only then that the administration initiated a detailed land survey, leading to the demolition on Saturday.

Amid the controversy, the BJP’s “One Nation One Election” student leadership conference, scheduled for Sunday in Lucknow, was postponed. The event was supposed to be organised by the ABVP, which has since distanced itself from the government over the university issue.

Sources claim that ABVP officials are upset with both the state government and the BJP, reportedly going so far as to raise slogans against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The ABVP has reportedly halted all collaborative activities with the party for the time being.

Students at the university have also voiced serious concerns, accusing the institution of running an unrecognised LLB course for the past three years after its accreditation from the Bar Council of India (BCI) lapsed. Allegedly, no examinations have been conducted in the last four years, even though the university continued to enrol students for the 2023–24, 2024–25, and 2025–26 academic sessions.

On September 3, an FIR was registered against the university management at Nagar Kotwali police station following a complaint by Dr Dinesh Kumar, Additional Secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Higher Education Council. The charges include fraud, forgery, and manipulation of documents.

Dr Kumar stated that the university endangered students’ futures by admitting them without proper accreditation, a clear violation of legal norms. Interestingly, a day after the controversy erupted, the Bar Council of India restored the LLB programme’s recognition on September 3.