One held for 'demanding ransom' from Najeeb Ahmed's kin; family denies receiving call

New Delhi: A man who allegedly made a call to missing JNU student Najeeb Ahmed's relatives demanding Rs 20 lakh ransom for his release has been arrested on Saturday, police said, even as the family denied receiving any such call.

The accused, whose identity is yet to be established, has been arrested from Maharajganj in Uttar Pradesh, said Ravindra Yadav, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime).

A call was received by Najeeb Ahmed's relatives three days back demanding Rs 20 lakh for his release, the officer said.

A Crime Branch team, under the supervision of DCP (Crime) G Ram Gopal Naik, traced the location of the man, who had allegedly made the call from his mobile phone and nabbed him, sources said.

The man is giving different names. Police has got his transit remand and is bringing him to Delhi for further interrogation, Yadav said, the accused is likely to reach here by tomorrow night.

However, the missing student's family denied receiving any such call.

"We have not received any call demanding ransom," a member of Najeeb's family said.

Meanwhile, six students who were served notices seeking their consent for polygraph test, have still not agreed to it.

Najeeb's roommate, Mohd Qasim, has also not given his consent for the lie-detector test despite agreeing to it earlier.

Last year, in November, a guard at JNU's Mahi Mandavi Hostel where Najeeb was staying had received a letter which claimed that the missing student was being held captive in Aligarh. However, on investigation, the letter was found to be bogus.

Ahmed, an MSc Biotechnology student, went missing on October 15 after a scuffle allegedly with ABVP affiliated students at his hostel on the JNU campus. A reward of Rs 10 lakh has been announced by Delhi Police on any information about him.