NEW DELHI: Investigative agencies are questioning Jawaharlal Nehru University students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya in a sedition case registered against them after they surrendered to police late on Tuesday night.
At the South Campus police station, the duo are being grilled about their role in organising the “anti-national” activities on February 9, praising hanged Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru as a martyr. They were also asked about their family and educational backgrounds apart from their demand to “free” Kashmir.
Umar told police that he conceived the idea of the event and that he never visited Jammu & Kashmir. But he said he opposed the hanging of Afzal Guru and Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.
Anirban said he had prepared materials like posters and pamphlets for the function, distributed them among students and pasted the posters on the walls of the campus. Both were separately grilled and not allowed to meet each other. The duo claimed they alone were responsible for the event. But interrogators showed them videos of the event and asked them to identify the people present. They were also asked about the whereabouts of other students involved in the anti-national sloganeering.
The metropolitan magistrate sent both the students to three-day police custody while the cops sought five-day custody for further interrogation. They will seek the custody of Kanhaiya Kumar on Thursday.