In a significant development of its efforts to trace missing JNU student Najeeb Ahmed, the Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday registered an FIR in the case.
Ahmed had disappeared seven months ago, following an alleged altercation with members of the right-wing students' group Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
The development comes after the Delhi High Court had, on May 16, handed over the case from the Delhi Police Crime Branch to CBI.
The court also rebuked Delhi Police for wasting time.
Delhi Police had told the High Court that it carried out the investigation in a fair manner, searching for Najeeb across India.
However, with their probe yielding no results, a Bench of Justices G S Sistani and Rekha Palli handed over the probe to the CBI with a direction that it has to be monitored by an officer not less than the rank of DIG and posted matter for hearing on July 17.
The agency has filed a case of 'kidnapping with intent to secretly and wrongfully confine' him.
According to his mother Fatima, 27-year-old Najeeb – a first year student of M.Sc Biotechnology – had returned to Jawaharlal Nehru University after holidays on October 13 last year.
On the intervening night of October 15-16, Najeeb called Fatima and told her that something wrong had happened to him, she had said in the initial FIR.
The next day, Fatima took a bus from Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh to Delhi, only to find that her son was missing from his room in Mahi hostel at JNU – allegedly after a row with members of the ABVP.
Delhi Police had earlier announced a reward of Rs 50,000, which was later increased to Rs 1 lakh, then Rs 2 lakh and eventually to Rs 10 lakh for anyone providing information that could help locate Najeeb.
The Crime Branch also had launched a massive hunt inside the JNU premises, beginning from Najeeb's hostel room to the ridge jungles of the campus, but nothing substantial was found.
Crime Branch officials did manage to locate the auto driver, who reportedly ferried Najeeb from the JNU campus.
However, the lead was not helpful in tracing Najeeb's location. Najeeb's family are hopeful that with the CBI taking over the case, there could be inroads.