JNU missing student: Najeeb missing for over a month, police raises reward amount

The Delhi Police has raised to Rs 10 lakh the reward amount for anyone providing information that could help locate JNU student Najeeb Ahmed, who has been missing for over a month now. Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma approved the increase in the reward amount from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh, said a senior police officer.

The Delhi Police's Crime Branch team is investigating the case after it was transferred to them. Initially, the reward amount was Rs 50,000. Later on, it was increased to Rs 1 lakh and subsequently to Rs 2 lakh last month. Verma later raised the amount to Rs 5 lakh.

The crime branch team was able to trace Najeeb's movement on October 15 after they had found the auto driver who had ferried him to Jamia Millia Islamia that day. The police had also sent Jamia CCTV's cameras to FSL Hyderabad to retrieve footage of the night and a report is awaited.

Najeeb had gone missing on October 15 following an on-campus scuffle allegedly with ABVP members the night before. Last month, an SIT was formed to trace the missing student following an instruction from Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to the Delhi Police Commissioner. The SIT, headed by Additional DCP-II(South) Manishi Chandra, could not to gain any actionable clue in the matter.

The SIT was focusing on psychiatric angle in the probe after it was learnt Najeeb was allegedly suffering from OCD with depression. The team was also mulling to seek help of psychiatrists from AIIMS or RML to chalk out a plan for investigation. The Crime Branch has been investigating all probable angles.