Missing Delhi student case closed: Najeeb’s mother continues to keep hope

Ahmed, a student of M.Sc Biotechnology, went missing from the Mahi-Mandvi hostel of the university on October 15, 2016, after a scuffle with a student group the previous night

“I still believe he is alive and I’ll believe so till I am alive,” said Fatima Nafees, after a Delhi court accepted the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI’s) closure report over his disappearance on Monday.

The missing man’s mother, who was repeatedly questioned the probe by Delhi Police and later, the CBI, reiterated that investigating agencies “didn’t really look for Najeeb”. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Archive)

Nafees has been at the forefront of the fight to find her son, who went missing from the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus in 2016. Ahmed, a student of M.Sc Biotechnology, went missing from the Mahi-Mandvi hostel of the university on October 15, 2016, after a scuffle with a student group the previous night.

“I will speak to the lawyers and take the next legal course possible. I will continue to fight for my son. I know he is alive. He may have been kept hidden somewhere. His appearance may have changed now. He may have lost weight or grown a beard, but he is alive somewhere,” Nafees said.

The missing man’s mother, who was repeatedly questioned the probe by Delhi Police and later, the CBI, reiterated that investigating agencies “didn’t really look for Najeeb”.

“They never did anything. They had no intention of finding him. Instead, they peddled fake stories around him that he had flown out of the country and become a terrorist,” she said.

Over eight years after Najeeb’s disappearance, Nafees, a resident of Badaun in Uttar Pradesh, recalled staying in Delhi for a few months. Eventually, the visits became thrice a week and lessened thereafter. It’s been a year now since she last visited, she said.

“My son visits but I have developed mobility issues. I can’t walk so much as I am ageing. My husband Nafees Ahmed is now 70 and barely ever leaves the bed. Our son Haseeb takes care of us,” she said.

She said that her other son, Mujeeb, who used to work in the Waqf Board lost his job three years ago and moved to Qatar. “He is currently in Saudi Arabia, trying to make a living for himself and his family. We have been struggling for the last nine years and it doesn’t seem to end,” she said.

Since 2019, Nafees has contested the CBI’s decision to close the case, filing a detailed protest petition before the Rouse Avenue court and flagging, what she alleged, were serious lapses in the investigation.

In its 2018 closure report, the CBI claimed that Ahmed left the campus voluntarily due to mental health issues and could not be traced.