Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar, Mar 9: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today carried out raids at 10 places, including at the houses of Hurriyat leaders, in a case linked to “selling” of MBBS seats in Pakistan to Kashmiri students.
The raids were conducted at the houses of Qazi Yasir in Anantnag, Jammu and Kashmir Salvation Movement chairman Zaffar Bhat in Bagh-e-Mehtab area here, and Mohammad Iqbal Khwaja in Mattan area of Anantnag.
The officials said the personnel from the Central probe agency along with the Jammu and Kashmir Police conducted simultaneous raids at the three locations. The raids were carried out in connection with the case related to “selling” of MBBS seas in Pakistan to Kashmiri students and using the money to support and fund terrorism, they said.
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The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in a statement said that it has carried out search operations at 10 locations in Srinagar, Budgam, Kupwara and Anantnag districts of Kashmir in respect of investigation relating to involvement of unscrupulous persons who were hand-in-glove with some educational consultancies manipulating, arranging admission of J&K students in various professional courses including MBBS in Pakistan based colleges, institutions and universities.
The professional course seats were sold to students with the motive to fund militancy in different ways on the instructions of Pakistan based handlers as well as those sitting in Srinagar.
Also tuition fee and living expenses of the students were being paid by such elements in Pakistan in return for which they received money in Indian currency which was again being used for funding militancy.
“During the course of searches, highly incriminating material and digital devices related to the scam, has been recovered and seized,” it said.
The Special Investigation Agency (SIA) of Jammu and Kashmir Police had filed a charge sheet in 2021 against eight persons in “selling” of MBBS seats in Pakistan to Kashmiri students and using the money to support and fund militancy in Kashmir.
The case was registered by the Counter Intelligence Kashmir (CIK), a branch of the police’s CID, in July 2020 against few people including some Hurriyat leaders, who were hand in glove with some educational consultancies and were “selling” Pakistan-based MBBS seats and seats in other professional courses in colleges and universities.
The charge sheet was filed against Mohammad Akbar Bhat alias Zaffar Akbar Bhat, the chairman of Salvation Movement, a constituent of hardline Hurriyat Conference, Abdul Jabbar, Fatima Shah, Altaf Ahmad Bhat, Qazi Yasir, Mohammad Abdullah Shah, Sabzar Ahmad Sheikh, Manzoor Ahmad Shah, Syed Khalid Geelani and Mohammad Iqbal Mir of Mahaz Azadi Front.
During investigation, oral, documentary and technical evidence was collected and in analysis it surfaced that MBBS and other professional degrees-related seats were preferentially given to those students who were close family members or relatives of killed militants.
Evidence also came on record to show that money had been put into channels that ended up supporting programmes and projects pertaining to militancy and separatism, which included the unrest after the killing of Burhan Wani of Hizbul Mujahideen in 2016.
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