The Delhi Police will conduct a lie detector test on missing Jawaharlal Nehru University student Najeeb Ahmad’s roommate Mohammad Qasim on Wednesday, reported ANI. Apart from Qasim, five others will go through the test. “We have served notices to six people and after their consent, we will carry out the tests,” the police’s counsel Rahul Mehra told Delhi High Court, according to PTI. Of these five students, four are suspected of beating up Ahmad.
At least 600 police personnel along with sniffer dogs were deployed on the JNU campus to look for the first-year student, who went missing on October 15 after a brawl with members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. All these efforts have been initiated after the Delhi High Court on December 9 criticised the police force and asked how the biotechnology student could “vanish suddenly”.
Several JNU students, too, have criticised the police for the delay in tracing Ahmad. JNU Students’ Union President Mohit Pandey had said, “They [the police] have not followed the procedures and responsibilities. Those who had beaten him were not interrogated.” JNUSU had submitted an affidavit in the court saying that they will cooperate with the search teams.
On November 25, the Delhi High Court issued notices to the state government and the police in connection with the case. It also asked the Delhi Police to file a status report in the matter. The court’s directive came after Ahmad’s mother Fatima Nafees filed a petition with the court, seeking the formation of a special investigation team to look into the case.
The case of the missing student has snowballed on and off campus. On November 15, the university administration had denied permission to the JNU students’ union to hold a protest march in solidarity with Ahmad. The administration had said the protest could have caused unrest leading to security threats on campus. On November 6, the Delhi Police had detained Ahmad’s mother and a group of students while they were protesting against the administration’s inaction in the case.
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