College student’s detention triggers protest in Pulwama

Our correspondent

Pulwama, October 18

Protests disrupted academic activities at the Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST) as students demanded the release of a polytechnic college student, who was arrested recently on the charge of bank robbery.

The students assembled and started raising slogans in favour of the student, Junaid Akhoon, a resident of Arampora, Awantipora.

“Our batchmate is innocent and he is being harassed by the police as his brother is a militant,” said a protester, adding that the charge against Junaid was fabricated only to pressurise his brother to give up militancy.

The police said the students marched towards the Jammu-Srinagar national highway to block it but the police foiled their attempt to do so.

“The students were marching towards the national highway with the intention of block it. They could block it only for a very short duration,” said a police official, adding that the police acted swiftly and cleared the highway.

He said the police had to fire tear smoke shells in order to allow smooth vehicular movement on the national highway.

University Vice Chancellor Mushtaq Ahmad Siddiqui said three days ago, a student was detained by the police, triggering a protest yesterday which continued even on Wednesday.

“Yesterday, the protest was peaceful but today, students tried to disrupt traffic on the national highway and consequently there were brief clashes,” he said, adding that luckily students were safe. He said he had spoken to police officials calling for speedy investigation and if the student was not found guilty, he should be released at the earliest.

Junaid Akhoon is the brother of Saliha Mohammad Akhoon, an active militant affiliated with the Hizbul Mujahideen who was allegedly involved in a bank robbery that took place at the J&K Bank branch in Bijbehara last week.

The police said they had got a clue that Junaid too might be involved in the recee of the bank for the purpose of robbery. “We are questioning Junaid. If he is not found to be involved in the bank robbery, he will be released soon,” said Senior Superintendent of Police, Anantnag, Mohammad Altaf Khan.