A special court here on Wednesday sent Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, two JNU students accused of sedition, to three days’ police custody.
After the arguments concluded, the metropolitan magistrate granted the police the duo’s custody for three days, instead of seven days the prosecution had sought in its remand application.
Sources said the police wanted seven-day custody as they wanted to confront the duo with the jailed students’ leader Kanhaiya Kumar. “We hoped that we would get Kanhaiya’s custody on February 29 and that would allow us to bring him face-to-face with Khalid and Anirban.”
Since the media was not let inside the courtroom, the account of the arguments was not available but Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Prem Nath said they had indeed applied for a longer remand period. On the threat perception to the duo, Mr. Nath said they would provide security to these students.
On a new video of February 9 doing rounds which emerged on Wednesday, Mr. Nath said: “We are presently investigating the case on the basis of one raw video. There are no multiple video footages.” He also defended the police questioning journalists about the whereabouts of Umar and others before they resurfaced claiming that everyone else who were in their contact were questioned.
During the 12-hour questioning, that was marked by two breaks, investigators confronted Khalid and Anirban with 20 specific questions.
The questions ranged from the controversial JNU event to the identities of the people who allegedly assisted the five students abscond for several days. Though the police also focussed on the source of their funding, there was not much revelation, said sources.
Another 30 questions followed and they mostly focussed on the ideological leanings of the duo and the persons they took inspiration from. The students were asked also to elaborate 28 “anti-national” slogans shouted at the event, but they kept insisting that they were not among the sloganeers.
Investigators claimed that the interrogation threw much light on the organisers of the JNU event. “Khalid was the brain behind the event and Anirban prepared and distributed its posters,” said an investigator.
The names of two more alleged organisers, Riyaz and Banjyotsana Lahiri, emerged during questioning. One Riyaz was allegedly tasked with uploading the event pictures on social media and arranging for sound systems while Lahiri’s exact role is still being probed.
Khalid has allegedly told the police that the Afzal Guru’s killing issue was close to his heart and that he had often been indulging in such debates. “He kept insisting that the courts had not given a proper hearing to Afzal Guru,” said the officer.
“Khalid was cooperative during the questioning and spoke his mind. Anirban, on the other hand, was difficult to break,” said an officer.
