Delhi Court Approves CBI Close of JNU Student Najeeb Ahmed’s Missing Case

In a significant development, a Delhi court on Monday approved the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) request to close the case of Najeeb Ahmed, a former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student who vanished on October 15, 2016. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Jyoti Maheshwari accepted the CBI’s closure report but left the door open for reopening the case should new evidence emerge.

The CBI, which took over the investigation from the Delhi Police, had concluded its probe in 2018 after failing to locate Ahmed. Following approval from the Delhi High Court, the agency submitted its closure report to the court. Najeeb’s mother, Fatima Nafees, contested the CBI’s decision, with her legal counsel arguing that the case was politically charged and that the agency had bowed to external pressures.

Ahmed, an M.Sc Biotechnology student at JNU, went missing from the Mahi-Mandvi hostel after an alleged altercation with students reportedly linked to the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on the night of October 14, 2016. The hostel warden later confirmed seeing Ahmed leave the university premises in an auto-rickshaw.

The CBI informed the court in April that Ahmed had visited Safdarjung Hospital after the alleged assault but refused treatment and did not complete a medico-legal certificate (MLC). According to the investigating officer, Ahmed, accompanied by his friend Md Quasim, returned to the hostel without obtaining the MLC. The agency noted that it could not verify statements from hospital staff due to missing documentation of Ahmed’s visit.

What Happened in 2016?

Fatima Nafees recounted that her son had returned to JNU on October 13, 2016, after a holiday break. In the early hours of October 15, Ahmed called her, distressed, saying something had gone wrong. His roommate, Md Quasim, later informed Nafees that Ahmed had been injured in a fight. Alarmed, Nafees traveled from Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, to Delhi to meet her son. Upon arriving at his room in the Mahi-Mandvi hostel, she found no trace of him. Ahmed has been missing ever since.