Sharjeel Imam Has Spoken More Dangerous Words Than Kanhaiya Kumar: Amit Shah

Hours after JNU scholar Sharjeel Iman was arrested by the Delhi Police crime branch over for allegedly making inflammatory statements, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said Imam has spoken more dangerous words than former JNU Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar.

“Watch Sharjeel's video, listen to his speech, he has spoken more dangerous words than Kanhaiya Kumar. Today Delhi Police has arrested him and he is being brought to Delhi. He (Sharjeel Imam) will be lodged in jail, said Shah in Raipur.

Anti-CAA activist Sharjeel Imam, who was on the run after sedition charges were slapped against him for allegedly making inflammatory statements, was arrested from Bihar's Jehanabad district on Tuesday, state's police chief Gupteshwar Pandey said.

The JNU scholar was wanted by police of several states, including Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Delhi.

"Sharjeel Imam has been arrested from his native Kako village in Jehanabad," Bihar's Director General of Police Gupteshwar Pandey said.

Earlier in the day, a brother of Sharjeel Imam was picked up by the police in a fresh attempt to trace the anti-CAA activist. Police had raided his ancestral home also on Sunday as it went hunting for him but Imam eluded the dragnet.

He is likely to be produced before a Bihar court where police will seek his remand for questioning. It is not yet clear whether he will be questioned in Bihar or taken to the national capital.

A graduate in computer science from IIT-Mumbai, Imam had shifted to Delhi for pursuing research at the Centre for Historical Studies at the JNU.

He was slapped with a sedition case after a video of his purported speech went viral on social media where he was heard speaking about "cutting off" Assam and the northeast from the rest of India.