New Delhi: The Delhi Police has raised the reward amount to Rs. 10 lakh for anyone providing information that could help locate Jawaharlal Nehru University student Najeeb Ahmed, who has been missing for over a month now.
Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma approved the increase in the reward amount from Rs. 5 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh, said a senior police officer.
The Delhi Police’s Crime Branch team is investigating the case after it was transferred to them.
Initially, the reward amount was Rs. 50,000. Later on, it was increased to Rs. 1 lakh and subsequently to Rs. 2 lakh last month.
Mr Verma later raised the amount to Rs. 5 lakh. The crime branch team was able to trace Mr Ahmed’s movement on October 15 after they had found the auto driver who had ferried him to Jamia Millia Islamia that day.
The police had also sent Jamia CCTV cameras to the Forensic Science Labs in Hyderabad to retrieve footage of the night and a report is awaited.
Mr Ahmed had gone missing on October 15 following an on-campus scuffle allegedly with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members the night before.
Last month, a Special Investigation Team (SIT), was formed to trace the missing student following an instruction from Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to the Delhi Police Commissioner.
The SIT, headed by senior police officer Manishi Chandra, could not gain any actionable clue in the matter.
The SIT was focusing on psychiatric angle in the probe after it was learnt that Mr Ahmed was allegedly suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) with depression.
The team was also mulling to seek help of psychiatrists from All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) or Ram Manohar Lohia to chalk out a plan for investigation. The crime branch has been investigating all probable angles.