In late December 2021, following a year long investigation, police in India filed a charge sheet with the special Judge for the NIA (National Investigation Agency) alleging that:

  • a separatist-controlled network had arranged for admission of hundreds of the Kashmiri students in different colleges in Pakistan over several years
  • part of the money generated through illegal means was being spent on terrorist and subversive activities across Jammu and Kashmir, and
  • two education agencies were involved in the scheme

Police say that a well-organised network of separatists and militants targeted students in the Kashmir valley and arranged for their admission in professional colleges in Pakistan. The aim of the scheme was “to keep part of terror boiling and infuse new spirit into the terror fold”.

The charge sheet reportedly states “The students were made to appear in the National Talent Search (NTS) test…in Pakistan as a dupe tactics to make them believe that they were writing a pre-qualifying test which would lead to their admission in professional colleges in Pakistan”. Usually such tests are offered free, or for a nominal fee, to foreign students but as part of the scheme they were charged significant sums.

The charge sheet further sates: “the accumulated money was ploughed into militancy and to create law and order problems by disturbing peace, damaging public property, striking terror among the common masses and creating potential threat to the sovereignty of India.”

 Police allege that Srinagar-based Career Park Educational Consultancy Trust and Andrabi Consultancy, operated by Syed Khlaid Geelani, recruited students and facilitated their passage to Pakistan.

A group of Indian students whose study in Pakistan was facilitated by the scheme returned to Kashmir during COVID and the Government of India has stopped them returning to Pakistan to continue their studies. Reports indicate that hundreds of other students have already completed their studies in Pakistan and subsequently found jobs in India.

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Source: India Narrative, daijiworld.com, dailyexcelsior.com