Court of Law

SRINAGAR — After hearing detailed arguments from a battery of lawyers from the side of the defence and the counter-arguments of SIA represented by the Special Public Prosecutor, in 11 hearings and spread over five months, the Court of Special Judge Manjeet Singh Manhas, designated under NIA Act in Srinagar, has framed charges against a Hurriyat leader and others for selling Pakistani MBBS seats in Jammu and Kashmir.

The charges have been framed against the accused Zaffar Akbar Bhat (Chairman Salvation Movement) son of Ab Jabbar, resident of Usmania Colony Baghi-Mehtab; Fatima Shah wife of Nisar Ahmad Shah, resident of Palhalan Pattan A/P 172, Nundreshi Colony near Sham Lal Pump Bemina, Srinagar; Altaf Ahmad Bhat son of Abdul Jabar Bhat A/P Pakistan; Qazi Yasir son of Late Nisar Ahmad Qazi, resident of Qazi Mohalla, Reshi Bazar, Anantnag; Mohammad Abdullah Shah son of Ghulam Ahmad Shah, resident of Kulpora Salkoot Kupwara; Sabzar Ahmad Sheikh son of Bashir Ahmad Sheikh, resident of Nowgam, Anantnag; Manzoor Ahmad Shah son of Gh Ahmad Shah, resident of Kulpora Salkote Kupwara A/P Pakistan; Mohd Iqbal Mir son of Ghulam Rasool Mir, resident of Cheeni Chowk near Khwaja Mir Ali School Anantnag of Mahaz Azadi front, for committing offences under 13, 17, 18, 40 UA(P) Act r/w 420 IPC in case FIR No. 05/2020 of P/S CIK/SIA Srinagar.

According to a statement issued to Kashmir News Service (KNS), a case FIR No. 05/2020 was registered in CIK/SIA on 27-07-2020 against unscrupulous persons who were hand in glove with some educational consultancies for arranging admission of J&K residents in MBBS and other professional courses in various colleges, institutions and universities in Pakistan.

The statement reads that a huge amount of money was received in a lieu of such admission from the parents of the students, and the money so earned was ploughed into supporting ‘terrorism’ in J&K.

“During the course of the investigation, searches in the houses of accused persons and at the other places were undertaken by sleuths of SIA after obtaining search warrants from Hon’ble Court. The documents and other material seized during the search were analyzed and it was found that deposits in the account(s) of accused persons were made on account of providing admissions in various technical and professional courses in Pakistan including MBBS. Cogent evidence surfaced during the investigation that the money so received was passed on to terrorist(s), stone pelters and OGW(s) for unlawful and terrorist activities,” the statement said.

It added that during the course of the investigation, statement of witnesses was recorded and on the basis of other evidence collected, it surfaced that the admissions in MBBS and other professional courses in Pakistan were preferentially given to those students who were close family member/relative of killed ‘terrorists’ on the recommendations of members of Hurriyat and received by their counterparts in Pakistan.

It added, “It was on the recommendations of Hurriyat that authorities in Pakistan provided admission in the professional colleges to the next of kin (NOK’s) of killed terrorists as a compensation to boost morale and keep the pot of terror boiling in the valley and infuse a new spirit into the terror fold.”

It was further established during the investigation that a part of a larger conspiracy by accused persons through different valley-based consultancies without their knowledge used to motivate the gullible parents of students aspiring for professional courses especially for MBBS to apply through these consultancies for such courses in Pakistan with the assurance of cost-effectiveness in comparison with other South Asian or Middle East countries offering such courses.

“On the motivation of accused persons, the parents/students often used to get trapped. The accused persons in conspiracy with Hurriyat leaders based in Pakistan and Kashmir were demanding huge amount of money from parents for getting their children admitted in different technical courses especially MBBS in Pakistan,” it said.

The statement reads that moreover, they also would arrange recommendation letters from Hurriyat leaders and other VTD’s (valid travel documents) from Pakistan Embassy, New Delhi to facilitate their visit to Pakistan for admission.

It added, “All the arrangements of parents/students in Pakistan were usually done by the accused persons in Pakistan. The students were made to appear in the National Talent Search (NTS) test at Hurriyat office in Pakistan as a dupe tactic to make them believe that they were writing a prequalifying test which would lead to their admission in professional colleges in Pakistan.”

It added that such tests were mostly facilitated by the persons/relatives of the accused persons who had ex-filtrated to Pakistan in 1990s to get illegal arms training and are settled in Pakistan/Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, who are utilizing their Kashmir-based contacts to further aid and abet ‘terrorism’ in J&K.

“During the investigation, it came to the fore that the accumulated money was ploughed into militancy and to create law and other problems by disturbing the peace, damaging public property, striking terror among the common masses and creating a potential threat to the sovereignty of India,” it added.

It reads that money raised through this process was also distributed among the families of killed ‘terrorists’ as a token of incentive for such families and families of active militants to boost their morale and carry forward anti-national/subversive/radical activities against the Union of India.

Recently, the Government of India/MCI has issued notifications, ordering that professional degrees such as MBBS and other technical courses obtained from Pakistan will not be recognized in India.

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