19-year-old Kashmiri student goes missing
IN GREATER NOIDA Was allegedly barred from exams
GREATER NOIDA: A 19-year-old Btech student from Kashmir has been reported missing from his paying guest accommodation since the past four days, allegedly after the college barred him from appearing in the semester examination which began Monday.
Aasim Hussain Dar is a firstyear student of civil engineering at the GL Bajaj College of Technology in Knowledge Park of Greater Noida.
He hails from Handwara in the Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir. He joined the Institute in August.
He had been staying with three friends at a rented accommodation in Chi Phi Sector of Greater Noida since the last four or five months.
His roommates claimed the last time they saw Aasim was on the afternoon of December 8, when he left the house to meet a friend at Pari Chowk in Greater Noida.
“Aasim was not given admit card for the ongoing semester examination. On Friday, around 2pm, he left the house saying he is going to meet a friend at Pari Chowk. Around 6.40pm, we called him to check when he would be returning, and he replied that he would be home in half-an-hour. His phone has been switched off since then. Later, we checked with the friend who informed us that he had not met or spoken to Aasim since the last 20 days. It was then that we contacted his parents,” Iliyas, Aasim’s roommate, said.
The college spokesperson said Aasim’s attendance was only 43% ( a student needs a minimum attendance of 75% to appear for exams, according to the rules of the Institute) and, hence, he was not given the admit card for the upcoming examination.
Aasim’s father Mohammad Yunus reached Greater Noida on Tuesday. He claimed his son had suffered from dengue for a month, which was why his attendance for the first semester was low.
“He was bedridden for a month in October. He last spoke to his mother on the evening of December 8. That night, we received a call from his friends he has not returned home,” his father said.
Iliyas said, “He has ‘seen’ our messages on Whatsapp chat but has not replied to any of them. He has also been active on Instagram and Facebook.”
Police said a missing person’s report has been filed at the Kasna police station.
“Aasim’s phone number has been put on surveillance and we are trying to trace him,” Ramphal Singh, the station house officer of the Kasna police station, said.
In October, a 17-year-old Kashmiri student, Ehtisham Bilal, had gone missing from Sharda University campus in Greater Noida, after he was roughed up by a mob of students in the campus.
Days later, photos of him emerged on social media claiming he had allegedly joined the Kashmir Islamic State wing in Kashmir.
Recently, Jammu and Kashmir police apprehended Bilal from downtown Srinagar and returned him to his family.