A day after Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal criticised the Delhi Police for failing to trace Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Najeeb Ahmad, missing since October 15, lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung asked police on Friday to speed up their efforts to trace Ahmad.
Also, Jung increased the reward money from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh for giving information about the whereabouts of the missing student.
The l-G held a meeting with top Delhi Police officers, including Special Commissioner (law and order) P Kamraj, Joint CP (South-East Range) RP Upadhyay, Manishi Chandra the additional DCP of South district and the head of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and took stock of the investigation in the case, the l-G office said in a statement.
Ahmad, 27, a student of School of Biotechnology and a native of Badaun in Uttar Pradesh, went missing following an on-campus scuffle allegedly with the members of ABVP the night before. Jung directed police that no effort be spared to trace the student. In the meeting, police told the l-G that all out efforts were being made to trace Ahmad. They said over 20,000 posters have been pasted in Delhi and outside.
The force also apprised the l-G that the entire incident has been repeatedly re-examined and that areas in and around JNU searched comprehensively several times.
“The SIT probing the case has verified over 300 autorickshaws plying in the area. It has so far deployed about 150 police personnel, including two teams per district,” the statement said.
It also stated that teams have been sent to Ajmer, Kota, Bareilley, Roorkee, Faizabad, Azamgarh, Badaun and other neighbouring cities. “Many of Ahmad’s former teachers, friends and relatives have been contacted, including the schools and other educational institutions which he attended. CCTV cameras at various locations including metro, ISBT, railway stations and tolls are being scanned,” it said.
While participating in a solidarity meeting at JNU on Thursday, Kejriwal had said Ahmad would come back only when Prime Minister Narendra Modi could be made to realise that he was losing votes over the issue.
Kejriwal said the force would not dare to pursue any investigation in this regard as “RSS students’ wing ABVP was involved in the brawl following which Ahmad went missing.”
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor and former General Secretary of CPI(M) Prakash Karat had also called for immediate steps to trace the student.