The Delhi Police appears to have traced the movements of Najeeb Ahmad — a student of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), who went missing mysteriously from the university campus on October 15 following an on-campus scuffle allegedly with ABVP members the night before.
The Crime Branch team tasked to investigate the case, has managed to locate the auto driver who took Najeeb to Jamia Millia Islamia from Nelson Mandela Marg, the day he went missing.
The Delhi Police has now sought permission from Jamia administration to allow them to further probe the case as the clues lead to the possibility of Najeeb, meeting his probable acquaintance on the campus and likely living there.
The university administration has not acceded to the request by the Delhi Police as they have not arrived to any conclusion, said a senior police officer involved in the probe.
In a related development, the Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma on Wednesday also increased the reward for giving information about Najeeb from Rs2 lakh to Rs5 lakh owing to the “sensitivity” of the case.
The Crime Branch team has traced the auto driver (TSR) who told the police that he had dropped Najeeb to Jamia between 12 and 1 pm on October15th last. As reported by The Pioneer previously, Najeeb was seen in a CCTV grab outside the university campus taking a turn towards Nelson Mandela Marg/Vasant Vihar.
“We have been able to trace the movement of Najeeb on October 15, the day he went missing. He took an auto from JNU and reached Jamia campus. He had taken the auto himself and wasn't accompanied by anyone,” said Joint Commissioner of Police, Crime, Ravindra Yadav.
Police are questioning the auto driver further to know the reason why he had dropped Najeeb to Jamia and whether there was anyone waiting for him over there. Although sleuths did not disclose the name of the auto driver but they said they have more details about him, which is under investigation. Police are also trying to find out whether Najeeb had any friends in Jamia whom he had gone to meet, said a police officer.
The Crime Branch team probing the matter also interacted with Najeeb's family on Wednesday and apprised them of the status of investigation.
The specially formed team headed by DCP Bhisham Singh has started from scratch and is re-looking into all the clues and evidence. last month, a Special Investigating Team was formed to trace the missing student following the instruction of the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma.
The SIT, headed by Additional DCP-II(South) Manishi Chandra, failed to gain any actionable clues in the matter following which the probe was handed over to the Crime Branch.
The SIT was focusing on psychiatric angle in the probe after it was learnt that Najeeb was suffering from OCD with depression. The team is also mulling to seek help from psychiatrists from AIIMS or RMl to chalk out a plan for investigation in the case.
While the case was being investigated by the SIT, teams were sent to Darbhanga in Bihar and Nepal after they got leads hinting Najeeb being there, but they could not find him.