Delhi court sends Sharjeel Imam to five-day police custody; JNU scholar was arrested on sedition charges for 'cut-off' Assam remark

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Wednesday sent Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Sharjeel Imam to five-day custody under Delhi Police Crime Branch. Earlier in the day, Imam, who was arrested from Bihar’s Jehanabad was brought to Delhi. [caption id=“attachment_7956421” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Sharjeel Imam. Twitter @MilitaryUpdate_[/caption] The JNU scholar, who was booked for sedition for his provocative speeches had stoked controversy with his “cut off Assam from India” remark. He has been slapped with charges of sedition and inciting enmity between communities under Sections 124A, 153A and 505 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Separately, a case has been registered against the JNU student by the Uttar Pradesh Police for his controversial speech delivered during the students’ protest at Aligarh Muslim University against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) on 16 January. A series of videos have gone viral on social media in which Sharjeel is heard saying: “If we all come together, then we can separate the Northeast from India. If we cannotdo it permanently, then at least for one to two 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.