Every time there is a knock at the door, fear strikes his heart. The 22-year-old spends sleepless nights. Mehrajuddin isn’t studying for his final year Mechanical Engineering examination either as he cannot appear for it because the college has suspended based on reports branding him a terrorist. If the college calls him back, he will still be haunted.
Last month, Rajasthan police picked him up along with a roommate in Jaipur, questioned him to unearth alleged Indian Mujahideen links and drove him to Delhi Police Special Cell for further interrogation. Nothing was found against him.
“I knew I am innocent and thought they knew that too that’s why they released me. I didn’t know this clean chit didn’t matter,’’ Mehrajuddin says. “I wasn’t even arrested.”
He says his family in Gangapur is facing social boycott after the media called him “aatankwadi (terrorist)”. “My father Niyazuddin is a driver in the railways. His colleagues stopped speaking to him.’’
Mehrajuddin, frail, short and sporting a sparse beard, is the eldest sibling of three. He was good in studies, especially mathematics. He got into Global Institute of Technology (GIT), Jaipur. “After four years of hard work, I was getting ready for the final exam. I was planning to apply for a job,” he says.
On March 23, everything changed. “It was around 4.30 or 5 in the morning. I had rented a flat with my coursemates Waqar (Azhar) and Ammar (Yasir). Ammar had gone to Delhi on his way for Umrah pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. Waqar was also asleep. I was woken up and saw more than a dozen men in the flat. They were policemen in civvies who had sneaked inside. They drove us to a police station where they separated us. They (police) started to ask questions.
They asked me about my family and religious beliefs. Then they started asking about samaan and I kept saying which samaan. There was nothing in our flat that was dangerous. A policeman slapped me and kicked me several times. They insisted I knew about samaan and they meant weapons.”
After hours of questioning, he was put in a vehicle where a few men in uniform were carrying guns. “Waqar had been taken to some other room and I had no idea what was going on. The policemen told me they are taking me to Delhi. I was in panic. I started pleading with them to let me make a phone call to my father. They didn’t agree.”
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In Delhi, he was taken to a police station. “I was scared to know it is Special Cell. I kept pleading to let me make a phone call home. Soon, a few officers started asking the same questions,’’ he says. “They asked me about what I think about Jihad and my views on Tableegi Jamat and Ahle Hadees. They were very harsh but didn’t hit me.”
“I had been with police for 18-19 hours and was exhausted and scared. I had no idea what would come next,’’ he says. “A few police officers told me they are convinced I am innocent. They told me they are letting me go. I saw Ammar and another guy outside who were released after daylong questioning.’’
The trauma did not end there. On March 24, his college suspended him. On April 3, Mehrajuddin wrote to the Director saying he “never indulged in any illegal activity” and sought his reinstatement so that appear for the final examination. The college didn’t respond.
In response to an RTI plea, Delhi Police said Mehrajuddin “was not arrested by Special Cell”.
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On April 23, Mehrajuddin’s father wrote to the college, which replied on April 29, saying “the matter has been raised with Rajasthan Technical University Kota and we will act once their direction comes”. The has been no further communication.
There is no case against Mehrajuddin in Rajasthan and yet he is scared because ATS of Rajasthan police arrested his flatmate Ammar from Shergathi (Bihar), after his return from pilgrimage.
Muzamil Jaleel is a Deputy Editor at The Indian Express and is widely recognized as one of India’s most authoritative voices on Jammu & Kashmir, national security, and internal affairs. With a career spanning over 30 years, he has provided definitive on-the-ground reportage from the heart of the Kashmir conflict, bearing witness to historic political transitions and constitutional shifts.
Expertise and Investigative Depth
Muzamil’s work is characterized by a rare combination of ground-level immersion and high-level constitutional analysis. His expertise includes:
Conflict & Geopolitics: Decades of reporting on the evolution of the Kashmir conflict, the Indo-Pak peace process, and the socio-political dynamics of the Himalayan region.
Constitutional Law: Deep-dive analysis of Article 370 and Article 35A, providing clarity on the legal and demographic implications of their abrogation in 2019.
Human Rights & Accountability: A relentless investigator of state and non-state actors, uncovering systemic abuses including fake encounters and the custodial death of political workers.
International War Reporting: Beyond South Asia, he provided on-the-spot coverage of the final, decisive phase of the Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009.
Landmark Exposés & Impact
Muzamil’s reporting has repeatedly forced institutional accountability and shaped national discourse:
The Kashmir Sex Scandal (2006): His investigative series exposed a high-profile exploitation nexus involving top politicians, bureaucrats, and police officers, leading to the sacking and arrest of several senior officials.
Fake Encounters: His reports blew the lid off cases where innocent civilians were passed off as "foreign terrorists" by security forces for gallantry awards.
SIMI Investigations: He conducted a massive deep-dive into the arrests of SIMI members, using public records to show how innocuous religious gatherings were often labeled as incriminating activities by investigative agencies.
The Amarnath Land Row: Provided critical context to the 2008 agitation that polarized the region and altered its political trajectory.
Over the years, Muzamil has also covered 2002 Gujarat riots, Bhuj earthquake, assembly elections in Bihar for Indian Express. He has also reported the peace process in Northern Ireland, war in Sri Lanka and national elections in Pakistan for the paper.
Awards and Fellowships
His "Journalism of Courage" has been honored with the industry's most prestigious accolades:
Four Ramnath Goenka Awards: Recognized for J&K Reportage (2007), On-the-Spot Reporting (2009), and Reporting on Politics and Government (2012, 2017).
Kurt Schork Award: From Columbia University for international journalism.
Sanskriti Award: For excellence in Indian journalism and literature.
IFJ Tolerance Prize: For his empathetic and nuanced reporting in South Asia.
International Fellowships: Served as a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley and worked with The Guardian, The Observer, and The Times in London. He has also received Chevening fellowship and a fellowship at the Institute of Social Studies, Hague, Netherlands.
Professional Presence
Current Location: New Delhi (formerly Bureau Chief, Srinagar).
Education: Master’s in Journalism from Kashmir University.
Social Media: Follow him for field insights and rigorous analysis on X (Twitter) @MuzamilJALEEL. ... Read More
Suspension notice of Mehrajuddin from college.
