Auto driver who ‘dropped’ Najeeb now denies statement: CBI to HC

NEW DELHI: Did the Delhi police crime branch tutored a witness last year to show they made headway in the Najeeb Ahmed case? An auto driver who according to Delhi police said he dropped the missing JNU student at Jamia Millia Islamia on October 15, the day he went missing from his hostel, has reportedly denied making such a statement.

The CBI, in a status report, on Tuesday informed the Delhi High Court about the change in the auto driver’s statement. Sources said the auto driver claimed that his earlier statement to the Delhi police was made “under duress”.

The disappearance of Najeeb was being earlier probed by the Delhi police but later, the case was handed over to the CBI. Najeeb went missing on October 15 after an alleged scuffle with ABVP members in Mahi-Mandavi Hostel of JNU.CBI spokesman Abhishek Dayal refused to comment on the case, adding that the matter was subjudice and the status report has been submitted to the court in a sealed cover.

A month after JNU student Najeeb Ahmed went missing, the crime branch claimed to have made a breakthrough by tracing an auto-rickshaw driver who had picked Ahmed from JNU and dropped him at Jamia Nagar.

The then joint commissioner of the crime branch Ravindra Yadav who was heading the investigation, told reporters that the auto driver told them Ahmed had hired the auto-rickshaw for Zakir Nagar but got down at the Jamia Millia Islamia.

Dependra Pathak, chief spokesperson of Delhi Police, said the police are yet to see the status report. “Once we receive the documents, we will appropriately examine it (what was said in court),”said Pathak.

The case has been probed by four different investigative teams but the 28-year-old JNU student is yet to be found. The Delhi police and CBI have independently announced reward of ₹10 lakh for information about Ahmed’s whereabouts.