Central University students protest fellows’ arrest

Srinagar, Nov 10: Scores of students at Central University Kashmir (CUK) on Saturday staged a protest over the arrest of two students.
Two students of the varsity’s Political Science Department—Suhail hailing from Shopian and Ismail from Baramulla—were arrested during the night from their rented residence at Nowgam.
Around five hundred students, carrying placards, assembled inside the campus to protest.
Raising slogans, they marched towards the Bypass and blocked the road at Nowgam Chowk.
“We would not join the classes till they are released. They have been doing well in studies. We fail to understand why they have been arrested,” said a journalism student, Adil Farooq.
Another student of the varsity, Omer Fayaz said they have been assured by the senior official of the district administration that they would be released within 24 hours.
“One of them is an orphan. As such, we don’t think that they would be involved in any kind of subversive activities,” Fayaz added.
Registrar of the varsity, Dr Fayaz Ahmad Nika, while confirming the arrests, said they were ascertaining the facts.
“I received a call from Nowgam campus, and was informed that the two boys have been picked up by police. We approached the police and administration,” he said.
“Police and officials of civil administration visited the campus as students were protesting against the arrests. We jointly pacified them.”
Head of the Department (HoD), Political Science, Dr Khalid, said they have been attending the classes regularly.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Srinagar, Imtiyaz Ismail Parray, later told a local news agency that the duo was arrested “for their involvement in militancy related activities”.
“An FIR was registered against them eight hours before they were arrested. They were involved in militancy-related activities,” KNS quoted the SSP saying.