Agencies ramp up drive to verify backgrounds of Kashmiri students in western UP

LIU and police teams are cross-checking information on nearly 600 Kashmiri students enrolled in various colleges within the Meerut zone to identify any potential links to the Delhi blast

MEERUT Security agencies ramped up their efforts to verify the backgrounds of Kashmiri students studying in western Uttar Pradesh following the recent Delhi blast and the arrest of Adeel Ahmad Rather, a doctor from J&K, detained in Saharanpur for his alleged connections to the “doctor module,” a “white-collar” terror network reportedly linked to the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) outfit.

Meerut police have also intensified checking of vehicles. (Sourced)

After the Delhi blast, Uttar Pradesh was placed on high alert and the Meerut zone was categorized as highly sensitive. The police, in coordination with intelligence agencies and university administrations, launched a large-scale verification drive to ensure that no outsider or student with questionable background is residing in the area.

Local Intelligence Units (LIU) and police teams are cross-referencing information on nearly 600 Kashmiri students enrolled in various colleges within the Meerut zone to identify any potential links to the Delhi incident.

There are around 150 Kashmiri students in Subharti University, Shobhit University and other institutions in Meerut. “Verification of all such students is underway. More than half have already been verified, and no student has been found involved in anti-national activity so far,” said an officer.

This is not the first time Kashmiri students in Meerut have faced scrutiny. In March 2014, following a complaint by Subharti University registrar PK Garg, cases of sedition and communal disharmony were filed against several Kashmiri students after they allegedly raised anti-national slogans following Pakistan’s victory in the Asia Cup. Sixty-seven students were expelled, but later reinstated after the government withdrew the case.

A similar controversy erupted in 2017, when Kashmiri students at Kalka Dental College allegedly celebrated Pakistan’s win in the Champions Trophy final, with videos of the incident circulating on social media.

According to SSP Vipin Tada, the police, LIU and intelligence units have been jointly tasked with verifying the credentials of all Kashmiri and other outstation students. “Information about their activities is being gathered from university and college administrations. So far, no evidence has surfaced indicating the involvement of any student in anti-national activity. Details of students currently on leave are also being verified,” he said.

Officials described the verification campaign as a preventive security measure following Dr Adeel Ahmad Rather’s arrest. The drive, they added, is aimed at ensuring that educational institutions in the region remain free from extremist influence or infiltration.