Government and cops get notice after Najeeb Ahmed's mother moves HC

More than a month after Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Najeeb Ahmed went missing under mysterious circumstances, his mother Fatima Nafees on Friday filed a Habeas Corpus petition in the High Court, expressing dissatisfaction over the police investigation in the case.

The matter was listed before the Division Bench comprising Justices G S Sistani and Sunita Gupta, which issued notices to the Delhi government and the police, asking them to come up with explanations. The Bench also directed the Delhi Police to come up with their investigation report within three days.

Najeeb Ahmed, a resident of Badaun district in Uttar Pradesh and a first-year MSc student at JNU, has been missing since October 15 following an altercation with some ABVP members on the night before at the Mahi Mandavi hostel.

In her petition, Nafees expressed dissatisfaction with the way the Delhi Police have been conducting the investigation and accused the varsity administration of "shielding the persons responsible for her son's disappearance".

The case was recently transferred to the Crime Branch of Delhi Police from the special Investigation Team formed by the Commissioner of Police, Alok Kumar Verma.

Last week, the Crime Branch traced the initial movement of Najeeb, stating that he had taken an auto-rickshaw from outside JNU for the Jamia Millia University after calling his mother.

The revelation came after the sleuths managed to trace the auto driver who ferried Najeeb. The driver even took the police to the spot where he dropped the student. Before shifting to Mahi Mandavi hostel in JNU campus, Ahmad was living with his relatives in Jamia.

Earlier, the Delhi Police had raised the reward from Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh for anyone providing information that could help locate Najeeb.

The issue had almost paralysed the functioning of the varsity with agitating JNU Students Union keeping Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar and other university officials under siege for over 20 hours.

Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung had also pulled up the force and asked the CP Verma to make all efforts to trace the missing student.