Aligarh police lodge FIR, dispatch team to arrest Sharjeel Imam for anti-national speech at AMU

A case has been registered against JNU student Sharjeel Imam here for his controversial speech delivered during the students protest at Aligarh Muslim University on January 16 against the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens (NRC), the police said on Saturday.

"We have registered a case against Sharjeel Imam on the basis of a video in which he is making anti-national statements at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) students protest on January 16," Aligarh Senior Superintendent of Police Akash Kulhari said.

The SSP said that a police team is being sent to arrest Imam.

In a separate development, Assam Police too on Saturday registered an FIR against Imam for one of his speeches at Shaheen Bagh in which he is allegedly inciting people to "cut off" Assam from the rest of India. "An FIR has been lodged against Sharjeel Imam for his speech and inter alia commission of offence under Sections 13 (1) and 18 of the UA (P) ACT read with Section 153A, 153B, and 124A of Indian Penal Code at Guwahati Crime Branch Police Station," said GP Singh, Additional Director General of Police, Law and Order, at a press conference in Guwahati.A series of videos have gone viral on social media in which Imam, the chief co-ordinator of Shaheen Bagh protest, is heard saying: "If we all come together, then we can separate the Northeast from India. If we cannot do it permanently, then at least for 1-2 months we can do this.""It is our responsibility to cut Assam from India. When this happens, only then the government will listen to us," he is heard saying further in the video.