Kolkata: Police in Kolkata have sought details from all colleges in the city about students enrolled with them who are from Jammu and Kashmir.
The move comes against the backdrop of protests by students at Jadavpur University and arrest of students at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on sedition charges for raising anti-India slogans.
A report in The Indian Express said on Tuesday that the police has sent a note to principals of the colleges, which says, “Please let me know that students, whose residential addresses is under the State of Jammu & Kashmir, studies in your Institution for onwards transmission to the Ministry of Home Affairs, North Block, New Delhi, Govt. of India.”
The note was sent to colleges in February by their respective local police stations.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Intelligence) Pallav Kanti Ghosh confirmed the authenticity of the news.
He, however, refused to say why the details were being sought.
However, the newspaper reported senior police officers as saying that central intelligence agencies had asked the Special Branch of Kolkata Police to collect the details.
“It’s an attempt to create dossiers on J&K students so that we can monitor their activities. This is really something new we are doing for the first time,” a police officer said, as per the daily.
A spokesperson at the Union Home Ministry confirmed to the daily that a general advisory had been issued to all states.
