Fake posters claim Kashmiri student of AIIMS Bhubaneswar abducted by Maoists

Srinagar, Mar 05: Bhubaneswar police on Monday claimed to have seized fake posters claiming that a Kashmiri student at AIIMS-Bhubaneswar, missing since February 9, has been abducted by Maoists.
Suhail Aijaz, a resident of Kupwara district pursing MBBS since 2016, left his hostel on the fateful. Since then, there has been no trace of him.
The posters pasted on a wall of Baramunda bus stand, about 3 km from AIIMS-Bhubaneswar, bearing the name of banned CPI (Maoist) Odisha State Committee claim that Suhail has been kept under their custody.
The posters demanded release of jailed Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda within seven days in exchange for Suhail.
Bhubaneswar Deputy Commissioner of Police, Satyabrata Bhoi, however, said the posters were not authentic.
“Yes, we have seized the posters, but they were fake and we are investigating into the matter,” he told The Kashmir Monitor over phone from Bhubaneswar.
“We deal with Naxals and we know that they don’t do things like these. Anybody can paste such posters.”
He said they have no whereabouts of Suhail.
Commissioner of Police, Bhubaneswar, YB Khurania, told a national news gathering agency that both the posters have been seized.
“We are examining them as part of investigation into Suhail’s case. We are trying to find out if it’s an act of mischief,” he said.
He said they have shared his photo and other details.
“Our teams have come back after enquiry in Kolkata and Howrah. We are also in touch with J&K Police and all agencies that can help,” Khurania said.
Meanwhile, Subhashree Panda (Mill), wife of Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda, said that posters found in the city were an attempt to deflect the investigation in connection to the missing medical student.
She also suspected the posters to be a handiwork of some unscrupulous elements as her husband has never been a member of CPI (Maoist).
SSP Kupwara, Shamsher Hussain said that he has spoken to the father of the missing boy stationed at Bhubaneshwar, who told him that the poster is fake and Bhubeneshwar Police is working very hard to ascertain the whereabouts of his son.
Suhail, 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 and would be back on February 17.
The authorities had lodged a missing complaint with the police on February 18, a day after the student’s scheduled date of returning to the institute.
A note was also recovered from the hostel without.
Suhail’s father, Aijaz Ahmed, has also reached there and met senior police officials for tracing his son.
Ahmed had told reporters that he had spoken to Suhail over phone for the last time on February 7.
He had also said that the institute authorities were the first ones to tell him that his son had gone missing.