JNU Student Sharjeel Imam Held In Bihar

Imam, through his counsel Ahmad Ibrahim, said he is a peace-loving citizen and never participated in violence during any protest

Sharjeel Imam, who has been slapped with sedition cases across several states for his alleged inflammatory speeches, was arrested in Bihar’s Jehanabad on January 28.

Earlier in the day, one of Imam’s brothers was picked up by the police in an attempt to trace the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) activist.

The police had raided Imam’s ancestral home on January 26 night after “help was sought by central agencies”.

Said to be in his early 30s, Imam has a degree from IIT Mumbai and later moved to Delhi for pursuing research at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)’s Centre for Historical Studies.

He had been involved in organising the protests at Shaheen Bagh but came into limelight after a video clip went viral wherein he could be heard allegedly making some disturbing comments while addressing a gathering at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). Following this, he was booked under sedition in the Uttar Pradesh town.

The Delhi Police claimed that he had given an “inflammatory” speech earlier on the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) campus and lodged an FIR against him in the national capital.

Besides this, another case was lodged against him under the stringent anti-terror law in Assam, taking cognisance of Imam’s remark that Assam could be “severed from India, even if for a few months” as a result of the CAA.