Missing JNU student: CBI approaches court for hearing on plea

NEW DELHI: The CBI, which is probing the disappearance of JNU student Najeeb Ahmed, today approached a Delhi court seeking early hearing of its plea seeking consent of the suspect students for a polygraph test.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Sherawat said he will hear the application tomorrow.

The application was moved by the agency hours after it was directed by the Delhi High Court to move an application before the CMM for an early hearing of the plea, which has been adjourned to January 24, 2018.

27-year-old Najeeb has been missing since October 14 last year after a scuffle at his JNU hostel allegedly with ABVP activists the previous night. The RSS students wing has denied any involvement in his disappearance.

The high court bench also gave directions to the CMM not to give long dates in pleas for polygraph tests, especially in such a matter where there was urgency, saying it would defeat the purpose.

It told the CBI that even family members of the missing student can undergo polygraph, not just the suspects.

A Delhi court had on May 3 quashed a police order summoning nine JNU students for recording their consent or denial for lie-detector test in the case after it noted a defect in the notice sent by the investigating officer to the students.

On May 16, the high court handed over probe of the case to the CBI.

The nine students, who are suspects in the case, had approached a magisterial court challenging the notice sent to them by the Crime Branch of Delhi Police seeking their presence before the magistrate for recording of their statement.

The notice was sent after the Delhi High Court had asked the police to explore other avenues of probe as all other leads had not yielded any result.