UP youth calls up Najeeb Ahmed kin for ransom

New Delhi: In a fresh twist to the mysterious disappearance of JNU student Najeeb Ahmed, a murder accused was trapped in the police net in UP’s Maharajganj district on Saturday after he made a ransom call of Rs 20 lakh to Najeeb’s relatives. He claimed that he called up Najeeb’s kin after he heard about the reward of Rs 10 lakh on any information about the missing student. The accused had made the call to Najeeb’s relatives three days back.

The arrested youth is a BA student and has a criminal background. He was arrested by the UP police on murder charges earlier last year.

Maharajganj SP Pramod Singh told this newspaper that the youth told the police that he made the ransom call to Najeeb’s family after he read about the reward of Rs 10 lakh on informing about his whereabouts. “He has a criminal background and has a murder case registered against him. We immediately informed our counterparts in Delhi, who sent a special force to take custody of the accused,” the SP said.

Confirming the news, Delhi joint commissioner of police Ravindra Yadav said that on Saturday, the accused has been arrested from Uttar Pradesh and will be brought to Delhi on transit remand.

“We are yet to verify his name as he is giving different names. We can get more information on further interrogation,” he added. Meanwhile, one of Najeeb’s relative told this newspaper that they had no information regarding the latest development.

The Delhi police has announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for anyone who shares information on Najeeb’s whereabouts.

Najeeb (27) went missing from his room on October 15 following a scuffle.