Sharjeel Imam, the JNU research scholar accused of sedition during a speech in Aligarh, was arrested in his native Jehanabad in Bihar on Tuesday. He was arrested by a team of Delhi Police.
Imam was facing cases of sedition in several BJP-ruled states including Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. Imam had allegedly declared at a speech in Aligarh on January 16 that the northeast should be severed from India. Sharjeel Imam had made the comments at a meeting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. He had also been associated with the protests at Shaheen Bagh.
Sharjeel Imam has also been accused of making an inflammatory speech at Jamia Millia Islamia since the protests against the Citizenship Act began in December.
"We have arrested Sharjeel Imam from Jehanabad," said Rajesh Deo, deputy commissioner of police, Crime Branch of Delhi Police. The force had deployed five teams to locate Imam, a resident of Bihar. Raids were conducted in Mumbai, Patna and Delhi
When asked to comment on Sharjeel Imam's arrest, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said, “Nobody should do anything that is not in the interest of the nation. The accusations and the arrest... court will decide on the matter.”
(Story will be updated)
