Fake Ransom Call to Najeeb’s Kin: Accused Got Number From Facebook

The accused demanded Rs 20 lakh from Najeeb’s family claiming he had the missing student in his custody.

Najeeb Ahmed has been missing since 15 October. (Photo: IANS)

A man, who was arrested for allegedly making a ransom call to missing JNU student Najeeb Ahmed's relatives demanding Rs 20 lakh for his release, has told interrogators that he got Najeeb’s uncle’s contact details from a Facebook page that has been set up to help trace the student.

Ahmed, an MSc Biotechnology student, went missing on 15 October after an alleged scuffle with ABVP-affiliated students at his hostel on the JNU campus. The accused, 19-year-old Mohammad Shamim, was arrested on 20 January after he made multiple calls to Najeeb’s uncle.

On the calls, he demanded Rs 20 lakh claiming he had Najeeb in his custody, before making a deal of Rs 15 lakh with the family for Najeeb’s “safe release”, The Indian Express reported.

A police officer said that after persistent interrogation, the accused confessed to his crime.

During interrogation, Shamim told police he had never seen Najeeb in his life.

The news report quoted the police as saying:

He told police he saw photographs of Najeeb in newspapers and social media. He also got to know that police had announced a reward on his release. He went to the JNU website, from where he found a Facebook page dedicated to finding Najeeb. He got his uncle’s phone number from there.

Even though, initially, he was giving different names, police managed to identify him and seized one mobile phone and five SIM cards purchased on a fake ID, which he had allegedly used for making the ransom calls.

(Source: The Indian Express)