The Delhi Police on Wednesday stopped students of Jawaharlal Nehru University and family members of missing student Najeeb Ahmad from marching to Parliament. The students’ union along with Ahmad’s mother Fatima Nafees had hit the streets to protest against police inaction in the case.

Ahmad, who has been missing for 39 days now, is a native of Badaun in Uttar Pradesh. A first-year student of biotechnology, Ahmad went missing on October 15 after a scuffle with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad members. His mother alleged that Ahmad is in captivity. “[Chief Minister] Akhileshji has assured me of all help. He said the police force would be sent to look for my son. Shame on Delhi Police,” Nafees said at the protest march.

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JNU Students’ Union President Mohit Pandey asked some vital questions. He said how is it possible that the police “have seen him in Aligarh and Darbhanga, but are still unable to locate him.” Another JNU student, Umar Khalid, raised doubts about such claims by the police. He alleged that the police were trying to build a narrative around Ahmad. “Why Darbhaga and why AMU [Aligarh Muslim University]? It is a pattern that they are following, because it fits the narrative,” he said.

Many claims have been doing the rounds ever since Ahmad went missing. First, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung had said that Ahmad was spotted in Bihar’s Darbhanga town. Then a woman said she had seen Ahmad in Aligarh. On November 16, investigators had said the student had hired an auto-rickshaw to take him from the JNU campus to Jamia Milia Islamia University before he went missing. The missing case has been transferred to the Crime Branch.

The rally comes three days after a proctorial inquiry conducted by the JNU administration found an ABVP member guilty of assaulting Ahmad. Vikrant Kumar, who also “used derogatory language with provocative behaviour”, has been asked to explain why disciplinary action should not be initiated against him in connection with the October 14 brawl.

The case of Ahmad going missing has snowballed on and off campus. On November 15, the university administration had denied permission to the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union to hold a protest march in solidarity with Ahmad. The administration said the protest could have caused unrest and security threats. On November 6, the Delhi Police had detained Ahmad’s mother and a group of students while they were protesting against his disappearance at India Gate.