Police arrest 4 persons for selling ISI sponsored medical seats for terror funding, 2 accused at large
Zahid Yaqoob/ Tariq Bhat
Srinagar, Aug 18: Police have arrested four persons involved in selling “ISI sponsored” medical seats to use the money for terror funding and stone pelting in Kashmir.
The development is seen as major breakthrough against terrorism and its sympathizers.
A top Police official told ANN News that investigation revealed that the accused used to collect around over four crore rupees and utilize such amount for promotion of terrorism and stone-pelting in Kashmir.
“The information on the basis of which criminal investigations had been 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,” said an official.
During investigation, an official said, it surfaced that MBBS and other professional degree related seats in many cases were preferentially given to those students who were close family members or relatives of neutralized terrorists.
“There were also cases where the quota allotted to individual Hurriyat leaders were sold to anxious parents desiring to obtain MBBS and other professional degrees in one way or the other,” he added.
He added that analysis of digital records and paper receipts as well as records pertaining to bank transactions revealed that a sizeable portion of the collected money was kept aside for personal use.
“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, payment for organising stone pelting also could also be traced and brought on record,” he said.
He informed that examination of witnesses corroborated by other circumstantial evidence, also indicated that many families who approached Hurriyat leaders to avail the programme of ISI that aimed at incentivising terrorism by compensating the family of slain terrorists, by way of providing free of cost MBBS and engineering seats were disappointed as monetary consideration was given precedence over the intended objective of the ISI programme.
The arrested persons have been indetified as Mohammad Akbar Bhat @ Zaffar Bhat, Chairman Salvation Movement, Fatima Shah, Mohammad Abdullah Shah of Kulpora Salkoot Kupwara, Sabzar Ahmad Sheikh of Nowgam, Shangus Anantnag. The other two persons who are at large are Altaf Ahmad Bhat, Manzoor Ahmad Shah.
