Najeeb Ahmed, a first-year M.Sc. student at Jawaharlal Nehru University’s School of Biotechnology went missing on October 15 last year after a scuffle with members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP)
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the CBI to take necessary steps to trace Najeeb Ahmad, JNU student, who has been missing since October last year.
The high court gave its direction after examining the status report filed by the CBI. The central investigating agency, in its report, gave details of the steps taken by it to trace the student and sought more time to conclude the probe.
“We direct CBI to take all necessary steps to trace the missing person who is missing since October 15, 2016,” a bench of Justices G S Sistani and Chander Shekhar said
The court asked the CBI its reason for placing the status report in a sealed cover. The CBI counsel responded by saying that they do not want the names of witnesses to be revealed.
The agency’s counsel informed the bench that they had examined 26 persons, including JNU officials, staff, Najeeb’s friends, colleagues and those who had any issue with him, during the investigation.
A first-year M.Sc. student at Jawaharlal Nehru University’s School of Biotechnology, Najeeb Ahmed, went missing on October 15. He allegedly had a scuffle with some members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in Mahi-Mandvi hostel of JNU on the night of October 14.
An official inquiry from a JNU report states, “In the proctorial inquiry, Vikrant Kumar has been found to be involved in hitting Najeeb Ahmed and using derogatory language with provocative behaviour on October 14. This is an act of indiscipline and misconduct.”
The court was hearing a plea from Najeeb’s mother, Fatima Nafees, who moved to court on November 25 last year to trace her son. The Police also announced an award of Rs 50,000 for any information on Najeeb’s disappearance.
The counsel, appearing in stead of the mother, also gave suggestions to the CBI to be included in its probe.
The high court on May 16 this year had ordered the CBI to take over the probe into the mysterious circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Najeeb, who is a resident of Badaun in Uttar Pradesh.
The high court had then on August 8 pulled up the CBI saying the case was “not transferred to the agency for fun”.
The students of the RSS-affiliated ABVP denied any involvement in Najeeb Ahmed’s disappearance.
(With inputs from PTI)
