MBBS Seat Selling Case: SIA Files Chargesheet against Hurriyat leader Zaffar Akhbar Bhat, 8 others

Srinagar, Dec 30 : The recently constituted State Investigation Agency of Jammu and Kashmir Police on Thursday filed its first charge sheet against nine people including chairman of Salvation Movement Zaffar Akbar Bhat in a case related to alleged “selling” of MBBS seats in Pakistan to Kashmiri students.

The charge sheet under section 173 CrPc was filed in Case (FIR No. 05/2020) under section 13, 17, 18, 40, ULP Act, 420 IPC of police station CIK Srinagar before Special Judge designated Court at Srinagar under NIA Act.

Besides Akbar Bhat alias Zaffar Akbar Bhat of Usmania Colony Baghi-Mehtab here, the charge sheet has been filed against Fatima Shah wife of Nisar Ahmad Shah of Palhalan Pattan, at present Nundreshi Colony near Sham Lal Pump Bemina, Srinagar, Altaf Ahmad Bhat (A/P Pakistan) son of Abdul Jabar Bhat, Qazi Yasir son of Late Nisar Ahmad Qazi of Qazi Mohalla, Reshi Bazar, Anantnag, Mohammad Abdullah Shah son of Ghulam Ahmad Shah of Kulpora Salkoot Kupwara, Sabzar Ahmad Sheikh son of Bashir Ahmad Sheikh of Nowgam, Shangus Anantnag, Manzoor Ahmad Shah (A/P Pakistan) son of Ghulam Ahmad Shah of Kulpora Salkote Kupwara and Mohammad Iqbal Mir son of Ghulam Rasool Mir of 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 were selling Pakistan-based MBBS seats and seats in other professional courses in various colleges and universities, registered the case in July 2020,” the SIA said in a statement to news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO).

“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 (militancy) and separatism in different ways.”

During investigation, the SIA said oral, documentary and technical evidences were collected and on analysis of collected evidences 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 militants.

“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 (militancy) and separatism,’ it said, adding, “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 (militants) 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 SIA claimed that the examination of witnesses corroborated by other circumstantial evidence indicated that many families who approached Hurriyat leaders to avail the programme of Hurriyat on the “behest  of ISI” that aimed at incentivising militancy by compensating the family of slain militants 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 (militancy) 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,” the SIA said. As per investigation, the SIA said on an 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 available evidence, a conservative estimate indicated that the money involved could be around  Rs. 04 crore per annum, on the basis of the fact that allocation of seats for distribution by individual Hurriyat leaders where around 40 seats for MBBS programme every year,” the SIA said, adding, “The historical 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 (militants) 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.”—(KNO)