JNU probe finds ABVP member guilty of assaulting Najeeb

A proctorial enquiry by the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has found Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) member Vikrant Kumar guilty of assaulting Najeeb Ahmed during a brawl, following which the latter went missing over a month ago.

Najeeb (27), a student of School of Biotechnology and a native of Badaun in Uttar Pradesh, went missing on October 15, following an on-campus scuffle allegedly with the members of ABVP, including Vikrant, the night before.

The university had ordered a proctorial enquiry into the incident. “In the proctorial enquiry, Vikrant Kumar was found to be involved in hitting Najeeb Ahmed and using derogatory language with provocative behaviour on October 14. This is an act of indiscipline and misconduct,” an official order read.

Kumar has been asked to explain why disciplinary action should not be initiated against him. The ABVP has, meanwhile, come out in Kumar’s support and accused the university administration of being “biased” in conducting the enquiry. “The proctor has taken deposition of those students into account who were not even present there. Not only the enquiry is biased but even the administration is siding with the left-dominated students union,” Saurabh Sharma, ABVP member and former JNU Students’ Union member said.

JNU students and teachers have been protesting against the university administration and the Delhi Police for failing to locate Najeeb. The students had even confined the Vice-Chancellor and other senior officials in the administrative building for over 20 hours.

Last month, an SIT was formed to trace the missing student on the directive of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma. The SIT, headed by Additional DCP-II(South) Manishi Chandra, failed to get any actionable clues in the matter. The case was later transferred to Delhi Police’s Crime Branch.