CBI announces Rs 10 lakh reward for info on missing JNU student Najeeb

Najeeb, a biotechnology student at JNU, had gone missing from his hostel on October 16, 2016, after allegedly being beaten up by student members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a body affiliated to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday announced a reward of Rs10 lakh for anyone who can give information about Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Najeeb Ahmed, who went missing last year.

MissingJNU student Najeeb Ahmed’s mother Fatima Nafees at a recent event in New Delhi. Najeeb went missing on October 16, 2016 from JNU campus. The Central Bureau of Investigation is probing his disappearance. (Burhaan Kinu/HT Photo)

Najeeb, a biotechnology student at JNU, had gone missing from his hostel on October 16, 2016, after allegedly being beaten up by student members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a body affiliated to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

“The Central Bureau of Investigation has announced a reward of Rs10 Lakh to the general public for providing information regarding the whereabouts of Shri Najeeb Ahmed,” the CBI said in a statement issued on Thursday.

“The information regarding Shri Najeeb Ahmed can be given to the CBI over telephone/mobile numbers 24368641, 24368638, 24368634, 9650394796 and 9650394791,” the statement read.

The case, previously probed by the Delhi police, was taken over by the CBI on the direction of Delhi high court and an FIR was registered in the matter against unknown persons earlier this month.

Earlier, investigators visited JNU campus and spent a major portion of their time at university’s Mahi-Mandvi hostel where Najeeb had been staying. It was in this hostel that the alleged scuffle between Najeeb and ABVP members took place.

“The announcement of an award is a standard procedure in case of a missing person. The investigation into Mr Najeeb’s alleged disappearance is ongoing,” said CBI spokesperson RK Gaur.

According to the FIR filed in the matter with the Delhi police, on the intervening night of October 15-16, Najeeb called his mother to tell her that something was wrong. His roommate later told Fatima he had been injured in a fight, she had said. Following the conversation, Fatima took a bus from Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh to reach Delhi in the afternoon.

According to the FIR, Fatima spoke to her son over the phone after reaching Anand Vihar and asked him to meet her at the hotel where she was staying. But, she said, in her complaint, that there was no trace of Najeeb and then she reached his hostel in JNU, where he was not present. Fatima approached the Delhi high court to demand a CBI probe after Delhi police failed to find Najeeb. The matter was handed over to the CBI on May 16.