MBBS seat selling racket: SIA files charge sheet against Hurriyat leader, 8 others

Nice persons including a Hurriyat Conference leader charge-sheeted

December 31, 2021

J&K Police’s SIA files charge sheet against 9 people for selling MBBS seats in Pakistan to Kashmiri students

The State Investigation Agency (SIA) of Jammu and Kashmir Police has filed its first charge sheet against nine people including Hurriyat Conference leader and chairman of Salvation Movement Zaffar Akbar Bhat in “selling” MBBS seats in Pakistan to Kashmiri students.

The bonhomie between Hurriyat leaders and their masters in Pakistan has been again exposed through the investigations and has exposed their nefarious designs once more of being hand in glove with the terrorists based in Kashmir valley and Pakistan and the undercurrents of their close-knit relationship is only to destabilize the UT of J&K and Union of India.

The charge sheet U/S 173 CrPc in Case FIR No. 05/2020 U/S 13, 17, 18, 40, ULP Act, 420 IPC of PS CIK Srinagar has been produced before the Court of Special Judge Designated Court under NIA Act Srinagar against:

Mohammad Akbar Bhat @Zaffar Akbar Bhat (Chairman Salvation Movement) S/O Ab. Jabbar R/O Usmania Colony Baghi-Mehtab;
Fatima Shah W/O Nisar Ahmad Shah R/O Palhalan Pattan A/P 172, Nundreshi Colony near Sham Lal Pump Bemina, Srinagar;
Altaf Ahmad Bhat S/o Abdul Jabar Bhat A/P Pakistan;
Qazi Yasir S/O Late Nisar Ahmad Qazi R/O Qazi Mohalla, Reshi Bazar, Anantnag;
Mohammad Abdullah Shah S/O Ghulam Ahmad Shah R/O Kulpora Salkoot Kupwara;
Sabzar Ahmad Sheikh S/O Bashir Ahmad Sheikh R/O Nowgam, Shangus Anantnag;
Manzoor Ahmad Shah S/o Gh. Ahmad Shah R/o Kulpora Salkote Kupwara A/P Pakistan;
Mohd Iqbal Mir S/O Ghulam Rasool Mir R/O Cheeni Chowk near Khwaja Mir Ali School Anantnag of Mahaz Azadi Front.

Police Station Counter Intelligence Kashmir on receipt of information through reliable sources that several unscrupulous persons, including some Hurriyat leaders, were hand in glove with some educational consultancies and are selling Pakistan-based MBBS seats and seats in other professional courses in various colleges and universities, had registered a case in July 2020.

The information on the basis of which criminal investigations were started into the matter also suggested that the money collected from the parents of the aspiring or potential students was used, at least partly, to support and fund terrorism and separatism in different ways.

During investigation oral, documentary, and technical evidence were collected and on analysis of collected evidence, it surfaced that MBBS and other professional degree-related seats were preferentially given to those students who are close family members or relatives of killed terrorists. Evidence also came on record to show that money had been variously put into channels that ended up in supporting programmes and projects pertaining to terrorism and separatism. For example, money collected in disguise of providing medical and other technical courses in various institutions of Pakistan were used to fuel up the unrest post elimination of terrorists including Burhan Wani in 2016, and every effort was made to disturb the peace and tranquillity post abrogation of article 35A and 370 of Indian Constitution.

The Examination of witnesses corroborated by other circumstantial evidence indicated that many families who approached Hurriyat leaders to avail programme of Hurriyat on the behest of ISI that aimed at incentivizing terrorism by compensating the family of slain terrorists by way of providing free of cost MBBS and engineering seats as monetary consideration. By incentivizing the next of kin of killed militants for the terrorism and related activities of their killed militant relatives, Pakistan is trying to keep the pot boiling and tends to radicalize the impressionable minds in the veil of technical education. As per the investigation, on average the cost of a seat ranged between 10 to 12 lakhs, and depending upon the political heft of a Hurriyat leader who intervenes, concessions were extended to the aspiring student and his family.

On the basis of the available evidence, a conservative estimate indicated that the money involved could be around Rs.4 crore per annum, on the basis of the fact that allocation of seats for distribution by individual Hurriyat leaders were around 40 seats for the MBBS programme every year.

According to the SIA, five people 1) Mohammad Akbar Bhat @Zaffar Akbar Bhat 2) Fatima Shah 3) Mohammad Abdullah Shah 4) Sabzar Ahmad Sheikh 5) Mohd Iqbal Mir have were arrested and were produced before the Hon’ble Court, all of them were sent to Central Jail, Srinagar, while as accused persons (1) Altaf Ahmad Bhat (2) Qazi Yasir (3) Manzoor Ahmad Bhat are absconding/ evading their arrest and challan was produced against them in terms of section 299 CrPC to declare them absconders while as the investigation with regard to the other aspects of the investigation/ suspects (Co-Conspirators) is in progress and the facts will be presented the Court through a supplementary charge sheet.

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