Missing AMU research scholar 'joins' Hizbul Mujahideen, Cops raid hostel

Mannan Wani, a Kashmiri research scholar at the prestigious Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), who had been missing for the past few days, is suspected to have joined terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen (HM).

A post on the social media, that showed Mannan, who had been pursuing Ph.D in Geology at AMU, with an AK 47, claimed that he joined the HM on Friday, according to the police sources here.

Aligarh police chief Rajesh Pandey said on Monday that the room at the hostel, where Mannan had been living, was raided and articles, including some literature and other documents had been recovered from there.

''We have seized some articles from his (Mannan)...they are being examined,'' Pandey said in Aligarh.

He said that Mannan had been present at the AMU campus till January 2, 2017. ''He had not been since then,'' he added. AMU authorities said that Mannan had been suspended till the investigation is pending.

The varsity officials said that Mannan was a brilliant scholar and that they had no idea how was he radicalised. His friends too expressed surprise and said that he never betrayed any signs that he could join the ranks of terrorists.

Mannan, who hailed from Kupwara in Jammu & Kashmir, had been enrolled at the AMU five years back and had earlier completed M.Phil degree from there. His family had lodged a missing report on Sunday, the police said.

Police sources here said that the cops were also trying to ascertain if Mannan was in touch with some others since his disappearance.