J-K student missing from AIIMS Bhubaneswar, mystery deepens

BHUBANESWAR: Mystery shrouds the sudden disappearance of a second-year student of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar, hailing from Jammu and Kashmir. Though he has been missing for the last two weeks, neither the police nor his family members have been able to trace him.

The student, identified as Suhail Aijaz of Kupwara district in Jammu and Kashmir, left the city on February 9 evening. Before leaving the campus, he had told his friends that he was going to attend a marriage function in Amritsar and would return by February 17. But, he did not return on the date nor reached his home.

Speaking to mediapersons, Twin City Police Commissioner YB Khurania said, “A missing case has been filed at Khandagiri police station in this connection. According to the preliminary investigation, Suhail’s last known location was traced in Howrah on February 10.”

As Suhail did not return by February 17, the AIIMS officials informed the police on February 18. “The police searched his room and found a handwritten note in which he has thanked everyone and has written ‘I quit’,” Khurania said. The note was addressed to his family, friends and the ‘world’. He has also urged his parents to forgive and forget him.

“We have given detailed information on the matter to Commissioner of Police, Howrah; Commissioner of Police, Kolkata; Additional DG CID CB, West Bengal and other States. We are hopeful of tracing him,” the Police Commissioner said.

The police have also taken out Suhail’s call detail record (CDR) of last one month and shared it with their counterparts in Jammu and Kashmir. Besides J-K police, Intelligence Bureau officials are in touch with Commissionerate Police to trace Suhail.

Meanwhile, Suhail’s father Aijaz Ahmed Kataria met Bhubaneswar DCP Satyabrata Bhoi in this regard on Sunday. “Suhail is a very bright student. We have not been able to contact him since February 9. The police are investigating the matter,” Kataria said.

“The college’s atmosphere is very amiable and I do not think that Suhail left due to any study pressure. Once we meet him, we will ascertain why he left,” he added.

However, sources said he had failed in some papers. According to sources, Aijaz had asked his brother not to call him for three to four days as he was giving his mobile phone for repair. After four days, when his family members tried to contact him, they found his phone switched off.