Delhi court docket closes investigation into JNU scholar's disappearance

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<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/3ac9/live/c41a6e70-6770-11f0-bc9b-9bff788dc28b.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/3ac9/live/c41a6e70-6770-11f0-bc9b-9bff788dc28b.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/3ac9/live/c41a6e70-6770-11f0-bc9b-9bff788dc28b.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/3ac9/live/c41a6e70-6770-11f0-bc9b-9bff788dc28b.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/3ac9/live/c41a6e70-6770-11f0-bc9b-9bff788dc28b.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/3ac9/live/c41a6e70-6770-11f0-bc9b-9bff788dc28b.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/3ac9/live/c41a6e70-6770-11f0-bc9b-9bff788dc28b.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/3ac9/live/c41a6e70-6770-11f0-bc9b-9bff788dc28b.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="Najeeb Ahmed's family Najeeb Ahmed wearing a blue coloured t-shirt with white collars sitting in a park " class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Najeeb Ahmed's household Najeeb Ahmed mysteriously disappeared in October 2016

9 years in the past, an Indian scholar vanished into skinny air.

Najeeb Ahmed was learning biotechnology on the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru College (JNU) in Delhi, when he mysteriously went lacking in October 2016.

The night time earlier than his disappearance, the then 27-year-old who lived in one of many college's residential hostels was concerned in a scuffle with members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a right-wing scholar group. The scholars have denied any involvement in his disappearance.

For years, India's crime-fighting company, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), has been making an attempt to determine what might have occurred to Mr Ahmed - the company took over the case from metropolis police in 2017.

Now a court docket in Delhi has lastly shut the investigation after the CBI mentioned it had exhuasted all potential leads within the case.

"As a parting notice, the court docket earnestly hopes that Najeeb Ahmed shall be traced quickly," the court docket mentioned within the order, which was introduced final month.

Mr Ahmed's household, nevertheless, have alleged the inquiry was not carried out in a correct method and mentioned they'd enchantment the choice in a better court docket.

"What message does it ship, that India's premier investigating company has not been capable of finding a lacking scholar from one in all India's finest universities?" Mr Ahmed's mom Fatima Nafees advised BBC Hindi.

"We won't surrender till we discover our son."

Born in a village in Uttar Pradesh, Mr Ahmed, the son of a carpenter, was the eldest of 4. His household made many sacrifices to assist his JNU schooling.

"After finishing his undergraduate diploma, he was adamant that he needed to review at JNU," Ms Nafees mentioned.

"I advised him you may take admission, however you will not keep within the hostel. You're too naive. However he did not hearken to me."

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/9e30/live/d0f974a0-6771-11f0-8dbd-f3d32ebd3327.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/9e30/live/d0f974a0-6771-11f0-8dbd-f3d32ebd3327.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/9e30/live/d0f974a0-6771-11f0-8dbd-f3d32ebd3327.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/9e30/live/d0f974a0-6771-11f0-8dbd-f3d32ebd3327.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/9e30/live/d0f974a0-6771-11f0-8dbd-f3d32ebd3327.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/9e30/live/d0f974a0-6771-11f0-8dbd-f3d32ebd3327.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/9e30/live/d0f974a0-6771-11f0-8dbd-f3d32ebd3327.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/9e30/live/d0f974a0-6771-11f0-8dbd-f3d32ebd3327.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Hindustan Times via Getty Images Najeeb Ahmed's mother at JNU campus on November 3, 2016 in New Delhi, India. " class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Hindustan Occasions through Getty Photographs Fatima Nafees has been preventing a authorized battle to search out her son since 2016

On the night time of 14 October, 2016, Mr Ahmed reportedly received right into a scuffle with a bunch of scholars affiliated to ABVP who have been campaigning for hostel elections. JNU is thought for its vibrant and intense scholar politics, with ideological teams usually clashing over campus points.

In his testimonies to the CBI, his roommate Mohd Qasim mentioned that Mr Ahmed received injured within the altercation and needed to be taken to a public hospital, the place he was allegedly refused therapy.

The docs advised him they may not deal with his wounds with out a formal crime grievance having been made to the police, his roommate alleged.

In keeping with the court docket order, Mr Ahmed selected to not file a grievance and returned to campus. He went lacking the subsequent day, forsaking his telephone, pockets, and garments in his hostel room.

A CBI report says Mr Ahmed final used his telephone and laptop computer round 10am the day he disappeared. A hostel warden advised the company that he noticed Mr Ahmed getting right into a tuk-tuk within the morning and leaving campus.

Ms Nafees, who had been knowledgeable of the scuffle over telephone by Mr Ahmed's roommate, was on her method to Delhi to see her son. She arrived within the morning and upon discovering him lacking, filed a lacking individuals grievance on 15 October 2016.

For days, there was no progress. Protests erupted on campus as college students and activists accused authorities of inaction.

In November 2016, Ms Nafees filed a petition within the Delhi Excessive Courtroom, accusing the police of being "sluggish, misdirected and subjective" and known as for a court-monitored probe.

A month later, Delhi Police carried out two intensive searches utilizing sniffer canine throughout JNU's sprawling campus - however once more, nothing was discovered.

In Could 2017, the court docket handed over the investigation to the CBI.

A 12 months later, the CBI advised the court docket it had exhausted all potential leads - and requested the bench to shut the case.

The company mentioned it had examined greater than 500 witnesses, collected data from taxi, bus, prepare and flight operators, and searched hospitals and morgues, however had discovered nothing.

A a million rupees [$11,600; £8,600] reward for details about Mr Ahmed additionally didn't yield outcomes, investigators argued.

The case dragged on for 2 extra years, when in 2020, Ms Nafees returned to court docket, this time to problem the CBI's conclusions.

She alleged the company didn't correctly probe the scholars concerned within the scuffle together with her son. She mentioned that they had a "clear motive", had threatened him, and will have been arrested. The CBI denied all allegations saying that they had left "no stone unturned" in searching for Mr Ahmed.

The company mentioned it had tracked the telephone areas of the 9 college students concerned within the combat with Mr Ahmed that night time, however discovered no proof linking them to his disappearance.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/96cc/live/bad236d0-65ff-11f0-a91e-6325aab01240.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/96cc/live/bad236d0-65ff-11f0-a91e-6325aab01240.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/96cc/live/bad236d0-65ff-11f0-a91e-6325aab01240.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/96cc/live/bad236d0-65ff-11f0-a91e-6325aab01240.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/96cc/live/bad236d0-65ff-11f0-a91e-6325aab01240.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/96cc/live/bad236d0-65ff-11f0-a91e-6325aab01240.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/96cc/live/bad236d0-65ff-11f0-a91e-6325aab01240.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/96cc/live/bad236d0-65ff-11f0-a91e-6325aab01240.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Hindustan Times via Getty Images) JNU students with people from different organisations, during a protest march and dharna against Delhi Police over missing JNU student Najeeb Ahmed at Jantar Mantar, on December 14, 2016 in New Delhi, India." class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Hindustan Occasions through Getty Photographs) Najeeb Ahmed's disappearance sparked huge protests in Delhi in 2016

Explaining its choice to lastly shut the case, a court docket in Delhi mentioned that the CBI has investigated "all believable avenues" totally however "no credible data" might be acquired about Mr Ahmed's whereabouts.

The choose dismissed Ms Nafees' plea, noting that whereas witnesses confirmed verbal threats, there was no "direct or circumstantial" proof linking Mr Ahmed's disappearance to the combat with ABVP members.

"Such scuffles and exchanges usually are not remarkable" within the charged environment of JNU, the order added.

The court docket, nevertheless, added that the CBI may reopen the case if new data involves mild.

The order has been an enormous blow for Mr Ahmed's household and well-wishers.

Colin Gonsalves, who represented Ms Nafees within the Delhi Excessive Courtroom in 2018, mentioned he nonetheless questioned the investigation.

"The police routinely arrest folks for minor crimes in India. It is surprising then, that not one of the college students have been taken into custody for questioning," he mentioned.

Ms Nafees alleges that her son's faith had affected the seriousness of the investigation.

"If the sufferer had been a Hindu boy, would the police have responded the identical manner?" she requested.

"They'd have demolished the homes of these suspected," she alleged, referring to the rising situations the place properties of people accused of crimes are bulldozed by Indian authorities. The BBC has reached out to the CBI for remark.

Nevertheless, the company has constantly maintained that they've carried out the probe impartially. In 2018, the Delhi Excessive Courtroom had mentioned that that they had discovered no proof that CBI investigated the case unfairly or "beneath political compulsions".

Ms Nafees says she's not completed preventing. Each 15 October, the day her son vanished, she joins a candle march at JNU in his reminiscence. The hope has dimmed, however the wait continues.