NEW DELHI: The students of Jawaharlal Nehru University along with family members of the missing student, Najeeb Ahmad, protested seeking action in the national capital on Sunday, forcing Delhi police to block all the roads leading to India Gate. The Delhi Police had imposed CrPC Section 144 (prohibitory orders against unlawful assembly) in the area following which all the protesting students and the mother of the missing student, Fatima Nafees, were detained.
Ahmad, a first-year MSc student at the School of Biotechnology in JNU and a native of Badaun in Uttar Pradesh, went missing on October 15 after alleged scuffle with a few ABVP members, who had gone to his room for campaigning for hostel elections.
After the police action, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal went to Mayapuri police station where Fatima Nafees was detained. Even before Kejriwal reached the police station, Fatima was escorted to her relative’s house at Jamia Nagar in a police van.
The JNU students union has been protesting for the last 20 days over the issue. Student leaders have also accused the ABVP of being involved in the incident but the Delhi police have refuted such accusations and claimed they are trying to trace Najeeb. The police have also announced a `2 lakh reward for anyone who give credible information on Najeeb.
Kejriwal alleged that the Centre was adopting ‘dictatorship’ policy and violating the constitutional right to protest. He also met President Pranab Mukherjee and gave a two-page letter to him urging him to intensify the search operation. Kejriwal said that President has assured him that he will seek reports from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the JNU administration on the missing student.
He also alleged that the Delhi Police did not take any action in the matter due to “political pressure”. “People who were involved in the brawl with Najeeb were questioned by the police on Friday, 22 days after he went missing. That was also a formality,” Kejriwal said.
In the meantime, the BJP accused the AAP and Congress of “orchestrating” the protest by JNU students, saying they cannot digest the “good work” done by the Modi government.
Meanwhile, police officials denied that agitating students or Najeeb’s family were manhandled.