Khalid, Anirban’s custody extended; Ashutosh joins investigation

Meanwhile, Ashutosh Kumar, a student facing sedition charges for allegedly raising “anti-India” slogans on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus, joined the police probe into the event on Saturday and is likely to be arrested, sources said. Kumar joined the police investigation on Saturday morning after the investigating agency asked him on Friday night to join the probe at Vasant Vihar police station and latter taken to the R K Puram police station by the Delhi Police’s investigative team, sources said. Khalid and Anirban were earlier sent to three days’ police remand on February 24, after their midnight surrender and subsequent arrest in the case.

The police also inquired whether two of them were the main organisers of the February 9 event against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and whether they were involved in anti-India sloganeering which allegedly took place on the campus.

Besides Kumar, Khalid, Bhattacharya and Ashutosh Kumar, the other students allegedly involved in the case are Rama Naga and Anant Prakash. 

Earlier, the Delhi high court had ordered “confidentiality” to be maintained during the remand proceedings of Umar and Anirban, besides Kanhaiya, while directing the police to ensure that no one “suffers even a scratch” and there is no ruckus this time.

Meanwhile, JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar has told the Supreme Court-appointed lawyers’ probe panel that he was beaten up, pushed to the ground and injured by men in lawyers’ robes in front of the police, when he was brought to the Patiala House Courts on February 17.

Sucheta De, the national president of All India Students Association (AISA) said: “All the students accused of anti-national sloganeering are ready to cooperate with police. Ashutosh Kumar, who was a former AISA president of JNU has gone to surrender before the police.” “Rama Naga and Anant Prakash Narayan have also communicated to police and they are ready to join the inquiry, gave their contact numbers and told the police to call them whenever needed,” she added.

According to the Delhi Police, in their interrogation, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya have told the police that “outsiders” raised anti-India slogans at the campus. They were reportedly confronted with 28 inflammatory slogans and also shown pictures of the slogan-shouters but haven’t identified them. Police sources claim Khalid has said he conceived the idea of the event while Anirban prepared the publicity material and distributed it.