Bihar police raided various locations on Sunday and Monday to arrest JNU research scholar Sharjeel Imam for allegedly making inflammatory speeches at the Shaheen Bagh, Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University protests against the new citizenship regime.
Several FIRs have been lodged against Sharjeel in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Assam after videos surfaced on social media showing him purportedly talking of “cutting off” Assam and the rest of the Northeast from the Indian mainland.
Among the places raided were Sharjeel’s ancestral home at Kako Bazar in Jehanabad, which the cops visited on Sunday and Monday and where his mother claimed the family was abused, threatened and harassed.
Jehanabad superintendent of police Maneesh said: “He (Sharjeel) could not be arrested. Some of his family members were questioned.”
Raids were also conducted at Patna’s Sabzibagh locality, which has for the past two weeks witnessed citizenship protests. The police did not find Sharjeel there, either.
His mother Afshan Rahim said: “My son is innocent. He is being implicated by vested interests.” Afshan said she did not know Sharjeel’s whereabouts but expected him to present himself before the authorities.
Later in the day, she released a statement that said her son was being victimised for a statement that had been twisted and taken out of context by the media. “They (police) are now harassing and threatening (Sharjeel’s) family members. The constant abuse and threats have traumatised me and scared other family members,” she said.
The JNU chief proctor has summoned Sharjeel to explain to him his position on the alleged provocative speeches, PTI reported.