JNU student Sharjeel Imam sent to judicial custoday, police names him ‘instigator’ in Jamia violence

A graduate in computer science from IIT-Mumbai, Sharjeel Imam had shifted to Delhi for pursuing research at the Centre for Historical Studies, JNU. (Photo: Facebook/ Sharjeel Imam)


A Delhi court today sent Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Sharjeel Imam to judicial custody for 14 days, till March 3.

Imam has been named as an “instigator” by the Delhi Police in its chargesheet on violent protests against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on December 15, last year near Delhi’s Jamia Nagar.

Violence erupted following a clash between police and Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) students who were protesting against the CAA on December 15 last year. As many as 14 buses were burnt and 20 private vehicles were torched in the violence. Police used batons and teargas and were seen chasing protesters through the streets, leaving nearly 60 people including students, cops and fire fighters injured.

Sharjeel was slapped with a sedition case by the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police last month, after his alleged speeches went viral on the social media wherein he was heard speaking about Assam’s possible secession from the country in the wake of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

In a video that went viral on January 25, Sharjeel Imam is seen talking about splitting the northeast from India to block the implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC). “We know how Muslims are being treated in Assam. We have to save people from the NRC. The only way to do this is by cutting off northeast from India.”

Earlier, he had been charged on similar charges at a police station in Aligarh for a speech he delivered on the AMU campus. Besides, a case under the stringent anti-terror law UAPA has been registered against him in Assam.

Earlier, Sharjeel Imam was arrested from Jehanabad in Bihar on January 28, days after he managed to outwit the Delhi Police which had launched a massive manhunt to nab him.

A graduate in computer science from IIT-Mumbai, Sharjeel Imam had shifted to Delhi for pursuing research at the Centre for Historical Studies, JNU.

The Delhi Police has filed a chargesheet before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur, naming Sharjeel Imam as an instigator of the violence. It said it has attached CCTV footage, call detail records and statements of over 100 witnesses as evidence in the chargesheet.

The court had on Monday sent Sharjeel Imam to one-day custody of Delhi Police in the case.