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More ‘surgical strikes’ in offing in Kashmir University

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 Hardly a week after he got the Ph.D. degree from Kashmir University, Rafi Bhat was killed on May 6, 2018 along with four other militants in Shopian district.

Rafi was serving as an assistant professor in the sociology department of the University on a temporary basis.

Two days before he was killed in an encounter in Shopian district, Rafi Bhat, had put out a series of Facebook posts, which indicated that he had shared his plan to give up teaching and pick up arms with his students.

Rafi served as an archetypal example of what had been going on in the University for over three decades. The ‘infiltration’ of secessionist elements and their ideologues into the various departments and administrative sections has been no secret.

The ‘secessionist intellectualism’ had found its ultimate seminary in Kashmir University with the shameful murder of its Vice Chancellor, Mushirul Haq and his secretary, Abdul Gani Zargar whose bodies were found on April 10, 1990, four days after the duo was kidnapped by the terrorists from their office in the University.

Valley’s highest seat of learning remained under the de facto control of the secessionists who ensured their control by positioning ‘loyalists’ at vital positions in academia and administration.

The only debate in the inner circles of this University for three decades was whether Kashmir should become independent or merge with Pakistan. Remaining a part of India was out of the question.

The radicalisation of the University was so complete that even admissions to various departments were done on recommendation of the secessionist leaders and militant commanders.

Shootouts between those who stood for ‘independence’ and those for merger with Pakistan were reported from within the campus during the mid 1990s.

Intelligence agencies, both Central and state, had mountain loads of inputs about the radicalisation of the University students.

As a senior intelligence officer put it, “Those were reports, but not all of them had actionable inputs and whenever we got actionable inputs, we acted.”

In layman terms, ‘actionable input’ meant the presence of a militant with weapons or presence of some communication network or any information about a wanted person hiding inside the campus.

What unfortunately was missed during all the past years was that for creating the ‘soldiers of Jehad’ you don’t need the presence of weapons.

The nurseries of ‘Jehad’ are nurtured in young and intellectually impressionable minds and that was what had been happening in the University.

Interestingly, even during the official functions where the chancellor (state Governor) and the vice chancellor would be present, no student would stand up in deference to the national anthem.

The worst part of that story was that even some of the faculty members would also refuse to stand up when the national anthem was being played.

The recent dismissal of professor Altaf Hussain Pandit of the University’s chemistry department has proved that the intelligence agencies have been able to find what they call ‘actionable evidence’.

Pandit’s dismissal could be the beginning of an ‘operation clean up’, the Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha’s government has decided to undertake in the University.

Post abrogation of Article 370, two discreet analyses of the academic and student activities in Kashmir University have been carried out, said top intelligence sources.

These analyses have shown that “Three faculty members have been contaminated to an extent that requires immediate action.

“12 faculty members have been found contaminated to a lesser extent that needs a graded response.

“24 members of different faculties are contaminated to an even lesser extent who need counselling and observation,” intelligence sources revealed.

The intelligence reports have also suggested long term measures to carry out reforms to ensure a free academic atmosphere in the University and also an atmosphere for recruitments that is free from nepotism, corruption and favouritism.

Presently, the intelligence agencies are carrying out analyses of the non-teaching staff.

What becomes clear from these intelligence reports is that in the not very distant future, the University would see more heads rolling to restore the academic excellence for which the University was once famous.

Crime

RG Kar Rape & Murder Case: West Bengal Govt Seeks Death Penalty, Calcutta HC To Hear Case On January 27

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Kolkata: The West Bengal government has appealed to the Calcutta High Court’s Division Bench against the trial court’s life imprisonment verdict convicting Sanjay Roy in the RG Kar case. The next hearing in the case will be held on 27th January.

Advocate General Kishore Dutta has approached the division bench of Justice Debangshu Basak, seeking the death penalty for Sanjay Roy. The matter has been allowed to be filed.

The Sealdah Civil and Criminal Court announced life imprisonment for the accused Sanjay Roy in the RG Kar rape and murder case. Along with this, the court has also fined Rs 50,000 to the accused.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee Expresses Dissatisfaction

Earlier, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday expressed dissatisfaction over the court giving life imprisonment to the convict in the RG Kar hospital rape-murder case and said if the case had been with Kolkata Police, they would have ensured a death penalty.

“I learned about the sentencing from the media. We have always demanded capital punishment and we continue to stand by it. However, this is the court’s decision and I can’t say much about this. For three other cases, Kolkata police ensured capital punishment through thorough investigations concluded within 54-60 days. This was a serious case. Had it been under our purview, we would have ensured the death penalty long back,” CM Mamata said while addressing the media at Malda.

Victim’s Father Rejects Compensation

On Monday, RG Kar’s rape and murder case victim’s father rejected the Rs 17 lakh compensation and said that he will move to a higher court seeking the death penalty for the accused.

Speaking to Media, the victim’s father said “What the Court thinks as a good judgement based on the evidence produced by the CBI, the Court has given that verdict. We have a lot of questions on the investigation done by CBI. We did not go to the court for compensation. We want justice, not compensation. Kolkata police did wrong and the CBI will have to do something. The Kolkata police have given us more pain than the passing away of my daughter.”

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Bollywood

Saif Ali Khan case: Mumbai Police find clues from crime scene

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Mumbai, Jan 22: The Mumbai Police have recovered a piece of cloth from actor Safi Ali Khan’s apartment which belongs to accused Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad, the Bangladeshi national arrested in the attack case.

Sources said the Bandra police recovered cloth from Khan’s house, which the accused used to cover his face. The cloth fell from his face in Saif’s son Jahangir’s room during the scuffle.

The cloth can be seen in the CCTV footage when Shehzad is climbing up the stairs before committing the crime. The police have sent the cloth and hair samples for DNA testing to the forensic department.

Earlier, the officials said that Shehzad had entered the actor’s building, Satguru Sharan, in the Bandra area by scaling its compound wall and found the security guards sleeping.

Sources said that both the security guards in the building were sleeping when the attacker entered it by crossing over the boundary wall.

The sources further said that as Shehzad found both the security guards sleeping, he entered the building from the main entrance where no CCTV camera exists. The accused removed his shoes and kept them in his bag to avoid making any noise. He also switched off his phone.

The police on Tuesday recreated the crime scene with the accused at the building. Police took the accused wherever he went after fleeing from Saif Ali Khan’s house. Shehzad was taken to the garden near the Satguru Sharan building and then to the National College Bus Stop where he was said to have stopped and stayed for a while after committing the crime. During the probe, the police took Shehzad to the Bandra Railway Station from where he had fled. Police are trying to find out how he reached the station.

The police were trying to record the chain of events starting from Shehzad’s entry to the building to his fleeing before being arrested.

Saif Ali Khan was stabbed six times by Shehzad inside his apartment in the early hours of January 16. The actor underwent emergency surgery at the Lilavati Hospital and was discharged on Tuesday. Three days after the attack, the police arrested the accused from neighbouring Thane city.

A court in Mumbai on Sunday remanded the accused in five-day police custody.

Shehzad, a native of Jhalokathi district in Bangladesh was residing in Mumbai for over five months. He had been working odd jobs and was associated with a housekeeping agency, the police have said.

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Crime

Society cannot have humanitarian approach towards an inhuman: CM Mamata Banerjee on RG Kar verdict

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Kolkata, Jan 21: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday that society cannot have a “humanitarian” approach towards an “inhuman” individual.

She said this while expressing her opinion on the verdict by a special court in Kolkata on the ghastly rape and murder of a woman doctor of R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital.

The special court on Monday sentenced Sanjay Roy, the sole convict in the case, to life imprisonment.

“What is the meaning of ‘life imprisonment’? Often lifers get released on parole. If a convict is alive there is a chance that he might commit the same crime again. If anyone chooses to be ‘inhuman’, how can society be ‘humanitarian’ towards him? That is why we demanded a ‘death sentence’ for the convict in the R.G. Kar tragedy. It is really the rarest of rare crimes,” the Chief Minister said while addressing a state government programme in Malda district.

Her observations came just a couple of hours after the state government approached a division bench of the Calcutta High Court challenging the January 20 verdict of the special court and seeking the death penalty for the convict in the case.

Commenting on the murder of Dulal Sarkar a.k.a. Babla, the Trinamool Congress councillor from ward number 22 of English Bazar Municipality in the same district earlier this month, the Chief Minister gave a strong note of caution that the miscreants and mafias, even if associated with her party, will not be spared at any cost.

The murder is reportedly a fallout of infighting in the ruling party, sources had said.

Referring to the recent tension in neighbouring Bangladesh, having a stretch of international borders with Malda district, the Chief Minister emphasized that in case there are border skirmishes with the Border Security Force (BSF), the people residing in the bordering villages should refrain from going there during the period of tension.

“At the same time, the local people will have to be careful so that no terrorist can take shelter in the district either at any hotel or rent any room at a house in the bordering villages,” the Chief Minister said.

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