As a student from Jammu and Kashmir – studying at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Bhubaneswar – continues to remain missing since 9 February, a suspected Maoist poster has now been recovered from Bhubaneswar which claims that the Kashmiri youth has been abducted.
Suhail Aijaz, a resident of Kupwara district in the northern state and pursuing MBBS at the institute since 2016, left his hostel on 9 February and has been missing ever since.
The alleged Maoist poster was put up near the Baramunda bus stand in Bhubaneswar claiming that Suhail has been kidnapped by them, reported PTI. The poster threatens to kill Suhail if Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda, who is currently in jail, is not released within seven days.
Bhubaneswar Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Satyabrata Bhoi told PTI that the police are investigating the authenticity of the poster. However, there is suspicion that the poster is a prank.
Regarding the poster, Sabyasachi Panda's wife said that "somebody played a mischief and tried to mislead the police", reported Hindustan Times.
The second year student had informed the authorities of the institute that he was going to Chandigarh with his friends to attend a wedding ceremony there and would be back on 17 February, Commissioner of Police YB Khurania told PTI earlier.
The authorities had lodged a missing complaint with the police on 18 February, a day after the student was supposed to return to the institute.
According to the Hindustan Times report, the institute authorities had also found a letter in Aijaz's room after he went missing, which was addressed to his father as well as his friends. In the letter, Aijaz reportedly apologised for not keeping up to expectations.
The youth's last known location was somewhere in Howrah in West Bengal. The Odisha police has also been in touch with the Howrah police and the West Bengal CID regarding the disappearance.
Missing Student’s Mother Records Video Message For Her Son
Meanwhile, Suhail's father Aijaz Ahmed – a teacher in Kashmir's Kupwara – has been in Bhubaneswar for more than two weeks, where he has met senior police officials seeking their help in tracing his son. The missing student's mother has reportedly recorded videos addressed to her son, in which she says "I will not touch food or water till you come back."
Ahmed had earlier told reporters that he had spoken to Suhail over phone for the last time on 7 February. He also said that the institute authorities were the first ones to tell him that his son had gone missing.
All Attempts Being Made to Trace Missing Student : Odisha CM
In the meantime, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has assured his Jammu and Kashmir counterpart Mehbooba Mufti that all attempts are being made to trace the missing student who hails from that state.
Mufti’s tweet came after the suspected Maoist poster was recovered from Bhubaneswar.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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