Raids on to arrest Sharjeel Imam; JNU proctor summons him

Raids are being conducted in Mumbai, Patna and Delhi to arrest research scholar Sharjeel Imam who has been booked in sedition cases lodged across several states for his alleged 'inflammatory' speeches made during a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, police said on Monday.

Five teams of the Crime Branch have been deployed to locate Imam, a resident of Bihar, they said.

Imam, a PhD student at the Jawaharlal Nehru University's Centre for Historical Studies, has also been summoned by the JNU chief proctor.

He has asked Imam to appear before the Proctorial Committee by February 3 and explain his position on the alleged provocative speeches.

A case against Imam, who was one of the initial organisers of Shaheen Bagh protests, under Indian Penal Code sections 124 A (an offence by words, either spoken or written causes disaffection against Government established by law), 153 A (promoting enmity between different religious groups with an intent to create disharmony) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) was registered by the Delhi Police on Sunday.

Also, a case of sedition was lodged against him on Saturday for a speech he delivered on the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) campus on January 16.

The Assam Police has also filed an FIR under the anti-terror law UAPA against Imam for his speech.