Shoaib Ahmad, an undergraduate student at Delhi University’s Zakir Hussain College, was among those taken from their homes in New Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh on Tuesday during the second round of the countrywide crackdown on the Popular Front of India.
Several dozen activists were detained from Shaheen Bagh, one of the epicenters of historic protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
The Muslim outfit, PFI was banned on Wednesday following the massive raids and nationwide arrests.
“My son is innocent. There was no complaint against him. There was no notice. I don’t understand why this is happening,” Waqar Ahmad, Shoaib Ahmad’s father said to the Newslaundry.
According to Shoaib’s family, he was not associated with PFI in any way.
“I woke up due to noise outside our house and noticed so many police personnel banging on our door. They took away his books, his laptop, and his phone. They didn’t tell us why they were taking him away. There are so many disturbing thoughts about the safety of my son. He never did anything wrong,” Mumtaz, Shoaib’s mother said to the news website.
According to the Newslaundry, Shoaib would post about the National Confederation of Human Rights Organisations, NCHRO, an umbrella body of human rights groups on social media. NCHRO, one of the leading rights groups in India, was among the groups banned on Wednesday.
The whereabouts of Shoaib and the charges against him are unknown.
Many took social media to raise their concerns about Shoaib’s arrest.
Mohd Abuzar Choudhary tweeted that he received a phone call informing him that the police had detained his friend Shoaib Ahmad from his residence in Shaheen Bagh at 3.30 AM.
