Cops visit mosques in search of missing JNU student

After the Delhi High Court pulled up Delhi Police over the manner in which the probe into the disappearance of JNU student Najeeb Ahmad – missing since October last year – on Friday, the police have started visiting local mosques in the Capital and neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh in search of clues on the missing student.

With over 200 days since his disappearance, the Delhi High Court, while recently hearing a plea by Najeeb's mother Fatima Nafees seeking whereabouts of her son, had rapped the agency and said that police appeared to be looking for an "escape route" and was "beating around the bush".

The police have also widened their search area and have written to the state police from across India in a bid to get any lead in the case.

The investigating officers met the Imam of Fatehpuri Masjid in Chandni Chowk and requested him to make announcements about Najeeb during prayers.

"We asked them to request people to share any clues or information about Najeeb. We have even requested imams of other mosques in Delhi, neighbouring areas and some cities in Uttar Pradesh like Badaun and Bareilly where Najeeb had stayed, to make regular announcements," said a senior police officer.

With the Delhi Police investigators still in the dark about the whereabouts of the missing JNU student, other state police investigators have been requested via an email to coordinate and solve the case.

The local police stations have also been asked to provide any information regarding his whereabouts.

"We have given distinct markers of Najeeb and have also asked the state police to look into unidentified bodies with the markers. The state police have also been asked to look into local hospitals to get any clues," the officer added.

Najeeb's mother had also met the investigating officer in the case (Crime) G Ramgopal Naik, and reportedly broke down in front of him and pleaded with him to find her son.

The family had to go through a lot in these months as they had received calls from several people informing them about Najeeb's whereabouts.

Recently, the family received a call from a woman in Muzaffarnagar inquiring about their son but it later turned out that she had dialed their number by mistake since it was similar to her boyfriend's number, police said.

"We always try and pick calls and in case we miss any call, we call back on the numbers in the hope that someone might be calling to tell us about my brother," said Mujeeb, Najeeb's brother.