Police Recover Sharjeel Imam's Mobile Phone From Jehanabad House

A special police team reportedly recovered Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Sharjeel Imam's mobile phone from his Jehanabad house in Bihar on Friday. The phone is expected to be a crucial piece of evidence in the case against the Ph.D student from JNU. Sharjeel Imam has been booked by the police in Delhi, UP, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh for sedition for his remarks threatening to cut off the North East from the country.

In a video which has gone viral, the JNU student is seen telling a crowd that by cutting off the chicken's neck area near Siliguri, Assam and the north-east can be separated from the rest of the country. Sharjeel Imam is seen making inflammatory remarks in other videos, as well.

Once cases were registered against him, Sharjeel went absconding and was on the run till special police teams arrested him in Jehanabad of Bihar on Wednesday. During the course of his interrogation, the JNU student is reported to have told police that he was not asked by anyone else to make such incendiary statements.

Though he said he was acting on his own, police are expected to go through Sharjeel Imam's call records and are likely to send the mobile phone device for forensic scrutiny.

Sharjeel Imam has also been described as the mastermind behind the Shaheen Bagh protest in the national capital. The Shaheen Bagh protesters, however, have distanced themselves from the JNU Ph. D student and his provocative remarks.