Najeeb was a newly enrolled student at JNU and had resided at the Mahi-Mandavi hostel in JNU campus for less than a week before he disappeared. His family and the JNU Students' Union have consistently maintained that Najeeb's disappearance was linked to the assault on him the previous night; accordingly they have demanded that the investigating agencies probe the link between the assault and the disappearance. Najeeb's mother Fatima Nafees filed a habeas corpus petition on 25 November 2016 before the Delhi High Court after the Delhi Police had failed to make any headway in the case a month after her son's disappearance.
Investigation
The Police had filed an FIR for kidnapping and wrongful confinement based on Najeeb's mother Fatima Nafees' complaint on 15 October 2016. Premier investigative agencies in the country such as an Special Investigation Team of the Delhi Police, the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police and now the Central Bureau of Investigation have been unable to find any leads into his disappearance. All these agencies have been reprimanded by the Delhi High Court at different points for their shoddy investigation into the case. The Delhi police spent approx. Rs 24 Lakhs for advertising Najeeb’s disappearance. After 25 days, the investigation was transferred to the Crime Branch. CCTV footage was found that led the investigators to identify the auto rickshaw that Najeeb reportedly took from the JNU campus. The mobile phones of the nine ABVP accused were sent by the CBI to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Chandigarh. Nearly 122 gigabytes of data was extracted from six of the phones, however the data did not reveal any relevant information. On 29 June 2017, the CBI announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for information about Najeeb Ahmed. The CBI, which was investigating Najeeb's disappearance, in one of their submissions to the Delhi High Court, stated that the Delhi Police had forced a false statement by an auto driver that he had driven Najeeb to Jamia Milia Islamia on the day of his disappearance. The Delhi Police had used this fabricated evidence to pursue a theory that Najeeb had left the campus on his own volition. It had also used Najeeb's medical history to assert that he was mentally disturbed. After being unable to prove any connection between his medical condition and his disappearance, the Delhi Police quietly dropped this line of investigation. His mother Fatima Nafees issued legal notices to prominent publications including Times of India, Times Now, Zee News, etc for falsely reporting that Najeeb Ahmed has ISIS connections or had left to join ISIS. The court asked the CBI in May 2019 whether Najeeb is alive or dead. CBI responded that Najeeb was last time seen with his friend and he has been kept hidden. His mother Fatima opposed the statement and demanded a hearing.
Role of JNU Administration
The Jawaharlal NehruUniversity administration was accused of partisanship and inaction to protect Najeeb's assaulters by the JNU student community, which blockaded the administration block for 20 hours on 23 October 2016. The administration had issued circulars calling Najeeb an accused which had angered students on campus. After it issued a 25-point bulletin on Najeeb where it did not mention his assault the night before, the JNU Teachers' Association blamed the administration for their apathy and bias in handling the issue and criticized the bulletin released by the university for 'selectively omitting' the fact that Ahmed was attacked during a brawl a night before. Najeeb Ahmed's mother Fatima Nafees also accused the JNU administration of insensitivity.
Activism by mother Fatima Nafees
Fatima Nafees has frequently joined activists in protests against the central government and the JNU administration. She joined Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union in the Light a Ray of Hope for Najeeb protest in 2016 She addressed a campaign by Jamaat-e-Islami's student organization SIO at Press Club Of India on 22 March 2017. She inaugurated an exhibitaion by SIO in Malappuram in 2018. She joined Kavitha lankesh, Professor Apoorvaand, Shaista Parveen, in a public meeting in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar for the third anniversary of Najeeb's disappearance joining BSP MP Danish Ali, author Arundhati Roy, Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan, St. Stephen’s College professor Nandita Narain in 2019. She joined N Sai Balaji, the National President of All India Students' Association at JNU on 23 Nov 2019. She campaigned for Kanhaiya Kumar in Begusarai during the 2019 parliamentaly elections. She joined Nadeem Khan of "United Against Hate", who is also an Asst Secretary of Jamaat-e-Islami, at a press conference on OCTOBER 4, 2019. The Delhi Wakf Board, headed by Amanatullah Khan, who is also an AAP MLA, gave her Rs 5 lakh and provided a job to his other son.
