JNU students Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya allegedly asked for a newspaper along with the pack of cigarettes and also demanded to keep them with JNUSU leader Kanhaiya Kumar at the RK Puram before giving the response to any sleuths questions of police.
Khalid and Anirban who arrested on charges of sedition for raising anti-India slogans on February 9, are in police custody. Kanhaiya Kumar also send to one-day police custody on Thursday by a city court.
According to the police, one more surprising demand came from these JNU students that they wanted momos and biryani from a Dhaba at JNU as they had been missing the food. “The request was denied and they were given food from a local eatery near the police station instead”, said an official.
Khalid admitted that he was a chain smoker and I had my last smoke minutes before the surrender. However, police refused to fulfill his demand for cigarettes, according to the report.
According to the source, “The duo wanted newspapers along with a pack of cigarettes. They were given copies of a Hindi newspaper. The two were taken to an inspector’s room inside the police station and grilled for the whole day.”
During questioning Umar, who remained calm throughout, was shown the video on the basis of which the case has been registered and asked to identify people who are seen shouting slogans.
Umar pointing to the laptop screen named a few people, but said that most of the crowd was made up of ‘outsiders’ and not JNU students.
Police are also asking them what they had done as the “main organisers” to stop the raising of the alleged anti-India slogans during the protest against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, the source said.
“Even though the students claimed that they were not getting any foreign funding, the police will probe their Maoist links. Since they were in touch with GN Saibaba, a Delhi University professor arrested for his alleged Maoist links, we are probing their Maoist connection,” said a police officer.