Jalandhar, Sept. 28 -- Students of Lovely Professional University at Phagwara in Kapurthala district went on a rampage on the campus on Sunday, vandalising property and blocking a national highway over unverified reports of an "outsider raping a female student on the campus and her subsequent suicide." After overnight violent protests, police on Sunday evening tried to evict the agitators blocking a stretch of NH-44 (Amritsar to Delhi) outside the campus since 8 am, after assuring that their issues would be addressed. But the students resorted to stone pelting and torched police vehicles, leaving several cops injured even as police resorted to mild lathi charge, officials said. A large force led by ADGP M F Farooqui later entered the LPU campus, with police saying the situation has been brought under control now. Farooqui said 4-5 unidentified miscreants have been detained and walkie-talkie sets and sharp-edged weapons have been recovered from their possession. The traffic on NH-44 has also resumed. In wake of the current situation, the LPU management has decided to suspend regular academic classes for a period of 10 days with effect from September 28. Police said a rape case has been registered against an unknown person on a complaint by the students, and a special investigation team has been formed to investigate the matter, even though the university authority denied claims of any rape incident on campus, calling them "rumours". The incident followed a day after a huge protest by students of Chitkara University in Patiala, who allegedly set a police vehicle afire over unverified claims that two female students committed suicide on the campus. In Phagwara, dramatic scenes unfolded at LPU where a student climbed atop a decommissioned MiG-23UM aircraft installed on campus, while a few others mounted a military tank. Viral videos on social media also showed the protesting students purportedly damaging window panes and flower pots on campus, even putting some objects on fire, with cries of "we want justice" echoing in the background. The protest began near Girls' Hostel-3 on the campus around 1 am on Sunday, after some students alleged that a female student staying there was raped by a construction worker three days back and claimed that the girl had committed suicide. They also claimed that the hostel warden was informed about the incident, but no action was taken. The LPU management, however, maintained in a statement that there was no truth in the "rumours", with registrar Monica Gulati saying some anti-social elements were spreading "false, baseless and fabricated" allegations. In the videos doing the rounds, some purported protesters with their faces covered with handkerchiefs were seen vandalising shops in the university mall and other properties on campus, while a few others could be seen taking some items from a grocery shop. The videos also showed damaged vehicles and a vandalised ATM kiosk on the campus. The highway blockade outside the campus, lead to a massive traffic jam. Traffic was diverted from the Phagwara highway stretch to the Phagwara-Jandiala road for the Jalandhar side and via arterial roads as the blockade on NH-44 continued into Sunday evening. Several rounds of talks between the protesting students and the LPU management remained inconclusive, even though LPU vice chancellor Jaspal Singh Sandhu assured the protesters that their genuine grievances would be resolved. The protesters insisted that LPU Founder-Chancellor Ashok Mittal, who is also a BJP Rajya Sabha MP, come to the protest site and assure them to resolve their issues. The situation turned worse around 7.30 pm, when police tried to persuade the protesters to lift the road blockade. Instead, they were met with bottles hurled by the agitators, prompting them to resort to a mild lathi charge that further aggravated the situation. The angry students pelted stones and attacked police vehicles on the highway, leaving several cops injured, officials said. A heavy police force was mobilised from Kapurthala, Jalandhar Rural and Hoshiarpur. The students claimed that the girl, who was staying in Hostel No. 3, returned to her house after no action was taken in the matter, DIG (Jalandhar Range) Naveen Singla, said. "An FIR has been registered based on students' statement. An SIT has also been formed, and a probe will be conducted involving students' representatives," the DIG added. To another question, the DIG said a girl student from Telangana studying at LPU died by suicide 15 days ago. "If the students say that there was foul play, action will be taken," he said. Asked about the students' claim of rape, VC Sandhu said the university doesn't know about any such incident, adding that the authorities will cooperate with the probe. "Students, parents and members of the public are requested not to believe, circulate or amplify such rumours; they should rely upon information communicated through official channels of the university," the LPU statement said. It added that the mid-term examinations have been postponed and the revised schedule will be shared soon. The LPU also released a video statement of three female students of Room No. 504, Girls' Hostel-3, claiming that no rape incident took place, saying they have been staying there for the past two months....