A year on, anger simmers over Najeeb
Students protest at CBI headquarters demanding key updates in case about missing JNU student
At least two hundred voices cried out in unison outside the headquarters of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) at Lodhi Road on Friday: “Where is Najeeb? Find Najeeb..”
On Sunday, it will be a year since the morning Najeeb Ahmad, an MSc student from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), was reported missing. Despite probe by four different teams of Delhi Police, Crime Branch and the CBI, there is still no sign of the 28-year-old.
On Friday, student groups from JNU, Delhi University, Jamia Millia Islamia , Najeeb’s family members and activists held protests over the agency’s alleged inability to trace Najeeb.
A year ago, the PhD student had a reported spat with other students in his hostel during which he was allegedly beaten up. He had reportedly slapped a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The foltold lowing morning, he was reported missing. Delhi Police registered a kidnapping case. A special investigative team (SIT) was then formed to trace him. The probe was later handed to the Crime Branch. In May, the Delhi High Court transferred the case to the CBI, but there has been no information about the disappearance, which is still the most discussed issue on campus, even today.
Demanding to meet senior officials on Friday, protestors tried to break barricades and enter the CBI headquarters which led to a brief scuffle with police.
Najeeb’s mother, Fatima Nafees who came from Badaun in Uttar Pradesh, said she has been waiting for action in the case without any results.
“Nobody in the CBI calls to give me updates on the case. I call them and come to Delhi frequently, but they refuse to meet me saying there is no update,” she HT. “For a year I have been protesting. I have protested in all parts of the country, but it has resulted in nothing. The CBI investigation officer doesn’t even come to the court hearings, only lawyers are there.”
Protesters, including Najeeb’s mother Fatima Nafees, as of late Friday night, remained outside the CBI headquarters. The protesters said they would continue their agitation over the weekend if CBI officers did not meet them.
The reward for information about Najeeb’s whereabouts has been increased by police from ₹1 lakh to ₹10 lakh. No one has come forward with any information on Najeeb so far. The CBI declared a separate reward of ₹10 lakh.
The walls in JNU are still marked with “Find Najeeb” posters. Student leaders, cutting across parties and ideologies, discussed Najeeb in the run-up to the student election. He was discussed in prime-time news channels and before elections in UP.
Najeeb is everywhere. But he continues to remain missing.