Hurriyat Conference men duped MBBS aspirants in Kashmir: Police

Srinagar/New Delhi, January 2

Some leaders of the Hurriyat Conference, an amalgam of secessionist groups, allegedly used Kashmir-based consultancy firms to woo prospective students for engineering and medical seats in Pakistan for which a fake ‘National Talent Search’ examination was conducted, according to the police chargesheet.

The chargesheet, filed by the State Investigation Agency (SIA), has highlighted several instances where parents were taken across the border using valid travel documents but were later compelled to pay extra money for their wards’ admission to universities and colleges there. “During investigation, it also got reflected that the students/parents were duped by the accused. They were made to visit Pakistan for admissions to MBBS, however, (they) would become hopeless after discovering their admission letters as fake. Circumstances were created wherein parents/students were put to absolute state of despondency so as to demand extra money to be either wire transferred or delivered to their persons of choice in Kashmir,” the chargesheet read.

This is the first chargesheet filed by the SIA, a newly carved-out unit of J&K Police, which named nine people, mostly separatists, for allegedly selling MBBS seats in Pakistan to Kashmiri students and using the money to spread unrest in the Union Territory, officials said.

“Parents would comply with such diktats of these Pakistan-based Hurriyat leaders or terrorists of Kashmiri origin (who had exfiltrated to Pakistan for arms training during the outbreak of militancy) to seek admissions to MBBS at Pakistan. This accumulated money under a well-knitted conspiracy/secrecy would land in the hands of active terrorists, families of killed militants and stone pelters through some Hurriyat leaders and their associates to further terrorist/secessionist activities in J&K,” the SIA said, adding that in a few cases, students and parents were completely duped by the accused and their hard-earned money was never or partly returned.

The SIA submitted the chargesheet in a special court here on Thursday against the nine, including Mohammed Akbar Bhat alias Zaffar Bhat, a constituent of the Hurriyat Conference. — PTI

Modus operandi

• MBBS and engineering aspirants, along with parents, were taken across the border and compelled to pay extra for admissions.
• Several students were made to appear in fake tests at the Hurriyat office in Pakistan, which students thought was pre-qualifying test.
• The accumulated money was sent to further terror activities in Valley.