Srinagar: Continuing the protest to demand the release of their colleague, the paramedical students on Tuesday again took to the streets to protests against what they termed as illegal detention of their classmate, Iqbal Ahmad Rather.
The Nursing students of SKIMS assembled at Srinagar’s Pratap Park here and chanted slogans in favour of the release of their colleague, saying that Iqbal, a brother of seven sisters was innocent.
Talking to reporters on the occasion, Sahila Qureshi, a protesting student said that their classmate has been ‘illegally detained’. “There was no transparency in the case as nobody is so far making the charges levelled against him public,” she said.
She said that Iqbal’s family was also not allowed to meet him so far, saying that the whereabouts of Iqbal, whose father is cancer patient, are yet to known.
The paramedical student also said that the family is being forced to go from pillar to post to seek the whereabouts of their beloved son. “We urge the authorities to allow the family to meet their beloved son,” she said.
Qureshi claimed that their college was innocent and was not affiliated with any such matter, saying that “we are on roads to exhibit that our colleague was not involved in any kind of issue, which police claimed.”
The protesting students said their colleague had gone to Jammu to consult a doctor for his ailing father.
They urged the Governor and other higher ups to look into the matter and look into the matter and release their colleague at an earliest.
Earlier, the family had also urged the Director General of Police (DGP) to release their beloved who according to them is innocent.
Report said that one of his sisters amid sobbing stated that her brother is innocent and doesn’t have a least of knowledge about what happened at the highway that day. According to her, he was going to Jammu to seek appointment for his ailing father and when the firing occurred, he in panic had rushed from the spot.
“We appeal DG sahib to release our brother. He is not a militant; he cannot be a militant as he has an ailing father and seven sisters. We don’t know why he has been arrested,” the family had stated.
Reports quoted police as saying that Iqbal was detained on September 12 from a truck in which three militants of Jaish-e-Muhammad were traveling before being killed in a gunfight a day later.
