LPU, Chitkara University Protests 2026: Unrest among students of two well-known private colleges, Lovely Professional University (LPU) located in Phagwara and Chitkara University near Rajpura, in the state of Punjab has attracted much attention due to disturbances, property damage and conflicts with the police that took place after the spreading of certain rumors through social media. Though these two events were separate from each other, the Punjab Police have started investigating them.
These events have brought to light the problem of how fast unverified information may spread among students via social media and become a reason for campus unrest.
Chitkara University Protest: Unverified Social Media Claims Trigger Student Unrest
The first notable event took place in Rajpura campus of Chitkara University, in the night of September 25 and the early hours of September 26, 2026.
According to sources, unconfirmed reports have been doing rounds on social media as well as in student circles that two girls were either missing or had committed suicides from their hostel premises. According to some sources, screaming was reported from the vicinity of a girl’s hostel, along with ambulances being seen on campus.
These allegations led to a huge turnout of students on the campus. The police as well as the university officials later said that they found no evidence of any such claims.
Despite this, however, the situation got worse, with reports of damage being done to university property and the police cars. Many students had gathered, and it turned out that this unrest led to confrontations with the police, with two police cars and university property getting damaged.
According to the police officers, this unrest could be a consequence of a prank and the rumors that followed it. After that, the messages spread rather fast through WhatsApp and other social media groups.
The example of Chitkara University showed how easily rumors about the safety of students could result in the panic and mobilization on the university grounds.
Lovely Professional University Protest: Alleged Assault Claim Leads to Violence
Just one day after the Chitkara University crisis, another major crisis erupted at Lovely Professional University, Phagwara.
The students had started protesting owing to some baseless rumours floating around regarding sexual assault of a girl student on the campus either by someone from outside or by an employee.
It was alleged that she had committed suicide as a result of it.
The university rejected all the allegations calling them baseless rumours. It was stated that the police had not got any confirmation regarding such an incident.
But the crisis escalated very fast. The students gathered near the girls' hostel and then marched towards the main gate of the university.
Damage to property could be seen through videos.
The protest further escalated outside the campus as the students blocked the national highway connecting Jalandhar-Phagwara and Delhi-Amritsar. The blocking of the national highway led to severe disruption of traffic.
With increasing tensions, confrontation ensued between the protesters and police. It was alleged that stones were hurled at police officials, vehicles were vandalized, and some police vehicles were also burnt.
Police Register FIR and Form SIT at LPU
One of the major developments was when a rape case was lodged against an unknown individual by the police based on some complaint related to the allegations.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has also been formed by the Punjab Police for the investigation of the matter. According to reports, the investigation would look at the evidence available which may include CCTV footage and other technical or forensic evidence.
This shows that despite the denial of the allegations by the university as rumors, the investigation process by the police is ongoing and allegations cannot be taken as facts until the investigation concludes.
This is due to the fact that there were various allegations doing rounds on the internet regarding sexual assault and suicide.
LPU Suspends Classes for 10 Days
After the riots, Lovely Professional University declared a suspension of regular academic work for a limited period of time.
As per the statement made by the university as published by different news sources, the university suspended regular classes for 10 days starting from September 28, 2026, while mid-term exams were delayed indefinitely. A new exam schedule will be provided separately to the students.
Students who stayed at the university were asked to follow the guidelines issued by the university officials and stay calm. Moreover, a large number of policemen were deployed at the university.
It was reported in different news sources that a large number of policemen were deployed at the university following the riots.
Chitkara University Also Announces Temporary Administrative Measures
While there have been changes in the university campuses of Punjab, Chitkara University declared from September 28 to October 1 as non-teaching working days for its employees and teaching faculty for administrative reasons, as reported in the Hindustan Times.
This declaration followed the initial disturbance in the Rajpura campus.
The authorities have not stopped investigating the reason behind such an escalation in Chitkara University and if there had been any link between the two universities.
Social Media Rumours and Student Safety Become a Major Concern
Perhaps the single most important issue in the two cases above is the use of social media.
Unsubstantiated stories about missing and dead students were allegedly circulating at Chitkara University on the social media. Allegations of sexual harassment and suicides before any factual findings from the police investigations were circulating at LPU.
This situation highlights the dangers of passing unsubstantiated messages, especially where issues of student safety are involved.
It is the duty of the university to pass information in an emergency, while students and other citizens must also be wary of such situations.
