Lack of guarantors: 19 days after bail order, Kashmiri student trio continue to languish in jail

Kin of one of the arrested students said that no local was willing to give guarantees for the students since they are from Kashmir. As such the families had to arrange six guarantors - two for each student - from the valley which delayed the release.

Agra: Three Kashmiri students accused of celebrating the victory of the Pakistan cricket team in the T20 Cricket World Cup are still languishing in jail despite getting bail from the Allahabad High Court for want of guarantors.

The trio Arshid Yusuf, Inayat Altaf Sheikh and Shaukat Ahmed Ghani studying at RBS College, Bichpuri were granted bail by the court on March 30 over five months after they were charged with sedition for allegedly cheering for Pakistan in a cricket world cup match against India. After a long debate in the High Court, Single Bench Judge Ajay Bhanot had granted bail to the three students and bailable orders were also issued. But for the release of students, two sureties of one lakh rupees each were made mandatory.

After the initial struggle, the families of the accused students who came to Agra from Kashmir have submitted the bail amount and presented the bail papers in the CGM court. Advocate Madhuvan Dutt Chaturvedi appearing for the students said that the personal status of four out of the six guarantors has been verified. The report will come after the verification of two guarantors. Kin of one of the arrested students said that no local was willing to give guarantees for the students since they are from Kashmir. As such the families had to arrange six guarantors - two for each student - from the valley which delayed the release.

Jagdishpura police station had filed a charge sheet in January 2022 against the accused Kashmiri students in the CGM court on the complaint of BJP Yuva Morcha Metropolitan President Shailu Pandit. The three were booked under section 153A for “Willful and malicious intent, which is against the harmony of various religious, racial, linguistic or regional groups or castes, communities. causing or is likely to cause a breach of public peace”.

Section 505(1)b was also invoked against the students for “Spreading fake news” besides 66 FIT Act related to “Cyber ​​Terrorism” and 24A for “Treason”. Pertinently, on October 24, engineering students at the Bichpuri campus were accused of celebrating Pakistan's victory over India in the T20 World Cup match. After the matter came to light on October 25, the college management suspended the accused students.