Missing Kashmir University student traced, says he was scared after pro-azaadi protests

Aqib Malik was “so hallucinated” that he presumed even the “raida walas” at the bus stand were not ordinary people but “Agency men” staring at him

By: Majid Hyderi |
February 27, 2017 6:39 pm

An undergraduate Kashmir University student, Aqib Malik, who was missing for the last three days, has been traced out from the summer capital of Srinagar with police saying that he had gone into hiding due to possible “hallucination”. Police got to know about his whereabouts on February 24 morning through surveillance of the telephone numbers of his friends. As massive protests against his disappearance hogged the headlines, Aqib got unnerved. He phoned one of his close friends from Habbak locality near the university, seeking a meeting at the latter’s residence.

The moment the missing man arrived at the spot at around 10:30 am, he was instantly caught by cops in civvies already deployed in the area. Given the hue and cry over his “mysterious disappearance at the hands of police”, cops were on tenterhooks to unearth the truth. He was straight away rushed to a nearby police station for questioning “as to why he went into hiding?”

A Sub-Inspector privy to the quizzing said that the law student made some astonishing revelations. Aqib is understood to have told police that ever since the day he led “pro-freedom” protests at the KU campus on February 24, he was feeling insecure. “He told us that he was scared that ‘Agency People’ have been following him day and night and would apprehend that every other person in the university was an ‘Agency Man’.”

Police says the young man was “so hallucinated” that he presumed even the “raida walas” at the bus stand were not ordinary people but “Agency men” staring at him. “His story is similar to that of Sanjay Dutt feeling Gandhi ji is interacting with him in Lage Raho Munna Bhai,” police added.

Aqib has told police that he didn’t want to trust anyone and thus spent the three days at separate places without eating anything. “He spent the first night at SKIMS Soura hospital, the second night at SMHS Hospital and the third night at his friend’s place in Baramulla,” a police handout said adding that he was under “stress for unknown reasons.”

Commenting on the issue, Superintendent of Police Hazratbal Peerzada Naveed told inUth that Aqib has not been detained. “After proper counselling, the student was handed over to the Chief Proctor University of Kashmir in presence of his relatives and friends. But he is unwilling to go back home. He wants to stay back at the University,” he added.