Non-bailable warrant issued against hostile witness

Ishfaq Tantry

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Tribune News Service

Srinagar, August 20

A special anti-corruption court here today issued non-bailable arrest warrant against a hostile witness in the MBBS exam scam case, who has already been made an accused in the case.

While issuing non-bailable arrest warrants here today, the anti-corruption court directed SSP, Crime Branch, Kashmir (CBK), to arrest and produce Dr Nissar Ahmad, a medical officer, in the court by or before August 27.

"The non-bailable arrest warrants against Dr Nissar was issued today after he failed to surrender before the court as was promised by his counsel on the previous hearing," special public prosecutor of the Crime Branch Khalid Muzaffar told The Tribune.

Special Judge, anti-corruption court, Srinagar, Yashpaul Bourney had on August 8 issued bailable warrants against Nissar following a plea by the Crime Branch to array him as an accused in the MBBS scam involving the sale of Common Entrance Test (CET)-2012 question papers by former Board of Professional Entrance Examinations (BOPEE) head Mushtaq Peer through brokers in lieu of Rs 60 lakh.

The plea to make him an accused was made after Dr Nissar turned hostile, retracting his earlier statement recorded under Section 161, in which he had confessed that he was present in the hotel room in the Dal Lake area where some of the students had solved MBBS question papers obtained by the brokers from Mushtaq Peer.

A total of 50 accused were arrested in the case. At present, only Mushtaq Peer is under custody, while the rest have been released on bail. Investigators had named 70 persons as prosecution witnesses in the case.

The trial in the case at present is stalled as the court is to frame charges against Dr Nissar after making him an accused in the case.

Nissar has been charged under Sections 406, 420 and 120-B of the Ranbir Penal Code and Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The two other witnesses in the case, approver Farooq Ahmad Yatoo and Yasin Reshi, in their statement have testified that Nissar was present in the same room where the students solved their MBBS paper after it was leaked and sold to them by BOPEE former chairman Peer through brokers.