A year after Najeeb went missing, CBI still clueless

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 15

The prime investigating agency, CBI, failed to trace out the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student, Najeeb Ahmed, who went missing exactly a year ago from the campus following a scuffle with some students.

The CBI was transferred the case in May 16 by the Delhi High Court when it was not satisfied with the Delhi Police investigation reports.

Najeeb (27), a student of MSc Biotechnology, went missing from the Mahi-Mandvi hostel of the JNU on October 15 last year. His family members are still running from pillar to post to trace him.

Najeeb had an altercation with several students, allegedly affiliated to the BJP's student wing the ABVP, according to his friends and family members.

After over a month had passed since Najeeb went missing, his mother Fatima Nafees moved the high court, seeking directions to the police to trace her son.

The high court had immediately directed the police to "explore all angles" and "cut across political barriers" to trace the young man, saying that no one could just vanish from the heart of the national Capital.

The family later demanded that the probe be handed over to some other agency.

In March this year, even the high court admitted that it was "foxed" by the lack of information on the missing student's whereabouts and demanded an answer from the police "one way or the other" on Najeeb's fate, saying that as far as the probe was concerned, the only thing happening was paperwork.

However, his family kept urging the high court to transfer the probe to some other agency and finally on May 16, it was handed over to the CBI.

Two months later, on July 17, the probe agency sought more time from the court to investigate the case.

On September 6, the court directed the CBI to take steps to trace Najeeb. On the same day, the agency filed a status report on the investigation in a sealed envelope.

The CBI counsel informed the court that the agency had examined 26 people, including JNU officials, staff, Najeeb's friends, colleagues and those who had issues with him, during its investigation.

The agency also told the court that the matter was widely publicised in 12 cities and that several mortuaries were also being monitored.