NHRC seeks ATR in Kashmiri medical student disappearance case

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The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) sought an Action Taken report (ATR) from the Director General of police (DGP) Odisha over the failure of police to ensure safety and security to a Kashmiri medical student at AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, who has been missing since 9 February.

Considering the petition filed by Rights Activist and Supreme Court Lawyer Radhakanta Tripathy the NHRC sought the ATR within four weeks.

Suhail Aijaz Kataria of Kupwara district in Kashmir was pursuig MBBS at AIIMS Bhubaneswar when he went missing.

Suhail’s father Aijaz Ahmad Kataria said, “On 6 February, Suhail called me asking for money, which I deposited in his bank account the next day. Our contact with him snapped from 9 February. We initially thought he was busy with his studies and hence was unable to talk frequently. However, on getting no news of him till 20 February, we left for Bhubaneswar sensing something amiss.”

Tripathy alleged that the police had failed to provide security and has not been able to trace the boy till date.He requested the NHRC to investigate the case or hand over the investigation to the CBCID, CBI immediately to trace the student.

Police sources said they are clueless as their investigations had led them only till West Bengal from where Suhail had made his last phone call.

Reliable sources said Suhail went missing as he was unable to cope up with studies at AIIMS and did not return home because of social pressure.

He was the first and the only boy of the region to have qualified for MBBS and had become a celebrity.