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| Over 50 Pak-trained, Hurriyat-sponsored doctors under scanner | | ‘White Coat’ Terror Module | | Sanjay Pandita Early Times Report
Jammu, Nov 22: Following the busting of the “White Coat” terror module, intelligence agencies have intensified surveillance on doctors who pursued their MBBS degrees abroad—particularly in Pakistan and Bangladesh. While all foreign-trained doctors are under watch, authorities are specifically monitoring those who obtained MBBS seats in Pakistan through recommendations from leaders of the separatist All-Party Hurriyat Conference. Sources said nearly 50 Pakistan-trained and Hurriyat-sponsored doctors have come under the scanner after the module’s exposure. Before the professional-seats scam surfaced in 2020, the Hurriyat Conference routinely facilitated the travel of Kashmiri students to Pakistan for MBBS and engineering courses. Police records indicate that over 100 students from the Valley travelled to Pakistan every year for higher education, especially in medicine. In 2020, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) unearthed a racket involving students, Pakistan High Commission officials, and separatist leaders. The NIA had termed the admission of J&K students to Pakistani medical colleges on separatist recommendations an “alternative mechanism” for terror funding in the Valley. According to police, “after receiving credible information that Hurriyat leaders were selling Pakistan-based MBBS seats in connivance with educational consultancies, the Counter-Intelligence Kashmir (CIK) registered a case in July 2020.” Investigations revealed that the money collected from parents of aspiring students was being diverted to support terrorism and separatist activities. Authorities are specifically monitoring those who obtained MBBS seats in Pakistan through recommendations from separatists. Before the professional-seats scam surfaced in 2020, the Hurriyat Conference routinely facilitated the travel of Kashmiri students to Pakistan for MBBS and engineering courses. Police records indicate that over 100 students from the Valley travelled to Pakistan every year for higher education, especially in medicine. In 2020, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) unearthed a racket involving students, Pakistan High Commission officials, and separatist leaders. The cost of each MBBS seat averaged ₹10–12 lakh, with prices lowered in some cases through the intervention of Hurriyat leaders. A conservative estimate suggested that the illegal racket generated around ₹4 crore annually, with at least 40 MBBS seats allotted to Hurriyat leaders every year. Officials said that Hurriyat operatives used consultancy firms to lure students through fake ‘national talent search’ exams. In several cases, parents were taken across the border on valid documents but were subsequently coerced into paying additional money for admissions to Pakistani medical colleges. Parents trapped in the scheme reportedly paid the extra amount either online or through agents operating in the Kashmir Valley. Many complied with demands made by Pakistan-based Hurriyat leaders or Kashmiri-origin militants to secure MBBS seats. Authorities have now placed doctors recently returned from Pakistan and Bangladesh—including those currently residing in J&K—under discreet surveillance. Significantly, Dr. Umar Mohammad alias Umar-un-Nabi, a Pulwama-based doctor, has emerged as the most radicalised and central figure in the terror network spread across Kashmir, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. Three other doctors—Dr. Muzammil Shakeel Ganai (Pulwama), Dr. Adeel Ahmed Rather (Anantnag), and Dr. Shaheen Saeed (Lucknow)—along with Mufti Irfan Ahmad Wagay of Shopian, were arrested by the NIA following the “White Coat” module’s exposure. According to NIA findings, all four doctors played crucial roles in the conspiracy that resulted in multiple deaths and injuries. They had earlier been arrested by the J&K Police. |
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