Delhi Police now offer Rs 10 lakh for info on missing JNU student Najeeb Ahmed
Three months after Najeeb Ahmad went missing from Jawaharlal Nehru University campus, Delhi Police has announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for anyone who shares information on his whereabouts.
Three months after Najeeb Ahmad went missing from Jawaharlal Nehru University campus, Delhi Police has announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for anyone who shares information on his whereabouts.
The police released an advertisement on Friday to announce the reward, which has now been doubled.
Najeeb (27) went missing from his room in Mahi hostel on JNU campus on October 15 following a scuffle with fellow students allegedly from RSS-backed Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad. The incident triggered sustained protests by students forcing the police to launch a massive hunt. However, the police have not been able to find a single clue till now about what might have happened to him.
“We started the investigation from the scratch and are looking at all clues and evidences. We increased the amount of the reward as we need help from the general public in this case,” a police officer explained. “We have released advertisement regarding this in all leading dailies and urge people to help us. Najeeb may have grown a beard and may not have resemblance with the given photo. So, people will have to keep this in mind,” he added.
Desperate for a breakthrough, Delhi Police has revised the quantum of reward five times in the last three months. It had first announced a reward of Rs 50,000 soon after demand for a thorough probe grew louder. The amount was later increased to Rs 1 lakh, then Rs 2 lakh, which was further hiked to Rs 5 lakh in November.
Read: ‘How can he vanish suddenly’: Delhi HC slams cops over missing JNU student
In November, a special investigation team (SIT) was also formed to trace Najeeb following an instruction from the Union Home Minister to the Delhi Police chief. The SIT, however, failed to gather any relevant clues and the case was shifted to the crime branch.
The SIT had stated that Najeeb was allegedly suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and was undergoing treatment for depression.
After sifting through the CCTV footage of the campus, the crime branch had managed to trace an auto driver, who reportedly gave a ride to Najeeb from JNU to Jamia Nagar in southeast Delhi on October 15. The police conducted a search there but drew a blank again.