Najeeb’s mother dragged,detained at India Gate protest

Najeeb Ahmed’s mother was dragged and detained by Delhi Police along with detaining around 50 students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) who were holding a protest near India Gate on Sunday evening regarding the failure of the authorities to trace Najeeb who went missing last month.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal visited Mayapuri police station where Najeeb’s mother Fatima Nafees was taken after detention. But by the time Kejriwal reached the police station, she was released and was being dropped in a police van to Jamia area where she has been staying. However, Kejriwal stayed back at the police station till he was assured that Fatima safely reached her place.

Meanwhile, the protest left Central and New Delhi districts with heavy traffic jams for hours and the commuters felt hassled as there were no traffic cops available to divert the route or help the movement of traffic.

On Sunday, JNU students protested near India Gate as the agencies failed to trace missing Najeeb Ahmed — a Biotechnology student who went missing on October 15, a day after a brawl at his hostel in JNU post an altercation with members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

Hundreds of JNU students started gathering at India Gate along with Najeeb’s mother and sister in the afternoon. But, Section 144 was imposed in the area and all roads leading to India Gate were blocked as the protests turned violent, and the police picked up dozens of students and took them away in their vans. JNU students claimed ABVP members had joined the protest to create trouble.

Fatima Nafees – mother of the missing JNU student – was dragged by Delhi Police and detained. She was taken to Mayapuri police station and was released after a few minutes.

Meanwhile, JNU students who were detained claimed that they were beaten up by the policemen and were threatened. The students claimed that the police told them that they would shoot each one of them. The students also claimed that the police intentionally broke their mobile phones and accused them of hiding Najeeb.

Before Section 144 was imposed at India Gate, Kejriwal said that President Pranab Mukherjee has promised to seek a report from the Home Ministry. The President gave the assurance when the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader called on him, Kejriwal tweeted.

Speaking to the media, Delhi CM urged the Delhi Police not to convert the city into a police state, and instead use its resources to find Najeeb. Kejriwal took to Twitter to protest against the police action.

On November 3, while speaking at a solidarity meeting on the JNU campus, Kejriwal had accused Delhi Police of not probing the matter properly.

Kejriwal, who has had frequent run-ins with Delhi Police had said Delhi Police would not dare to pursue any investigation in this case as ABVP, the students’ wing of RSS, was involved in the brawl.