Najeeb Ahmed case: Use all powers to find Najeeb, Delhi HC tells police

New Delhi: Taking a stern view of the missing JNU student, the Delhi high court directed the Delhi police to use all its power and muscle to find Najeeb Ahmed. It directed the police to conduct lie detector test on Najeeb’s roommate and the nine suspects in the case.

The court made it clear that everyone connected to the case will be asked to cooperate with the investigative agency. The observation came after the court was told that Najeeb’s roommate, Mohd Qasim, who had initially given his consent for the lie-detector test, did not turn up for the same on Wednesday.

A bench of Justice G.S. Sistani and Justice Jayant Nath, however, made it clear to the Delhi police that they will only subject the suspects to the test after getting their consent.

“Why should anybody, who is related to the case, shy away from helping in the investigation? We do not want to give concession to anyone, whether it is the family members, friends, or Najeeb’s roommate. Lie detector test should take place, as everybody will have to work on this case. The police will conduct the test expeditiously and as soon as possible and file their status report before January 23 next year. We further expect that the police would do everything possible to get the boy and even search the suspects’ native places using sniffer dogs,” the court said.

“We want that something substantial comes out of the effort we all are involved in, before the next date of hearing,” it said.

Najeeb has been missing since October 15 after a scuffle at his hostel the previous night, allegedly with ABVP students. A reward of '10 lakh has been announced by the police on any information about Najeeb, who remains untraced even after 69 days of the incident.

The senior advocate, Colin Gonsalves, submitted that Qasim will undergo the lie detector test only after the nine suspects undergo the process. He also stated that the police have searched the houses of Najeeb’s relatives and distant relatives, but did not even bother to look into the rooms of the suspects who left for their homes after the incident.

Senior standing counsel, Rahul Mehra, opposed the contention and submitted that they would have done so, if it would have been pointed out earlier. He said the agency had issued notice to those nine and they are on their way to Delhi.

“They have even given their consent to undergo the test. Once they reach Delhi, their rooms will be searched and even they will be interrogated,” Mr Mehra said.

On this, the court remarked that the investigation should be done uniformly, whether one is a suspect or not.

“Roommate and these nine boys should have been interrogated at the initial stage only. They should have been subjected to lie detector test,” the bench said and asked the police whether they have called the parents and family members of Najeeb for the test as well.