Aligarh Muslim University expels student suspected of creating disharmony on campus

File photo

ALIGARH: Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) on Monday expelled a student following reports of his alleged involvement in "highly objectionable activities, which can hamper the peaceful academic atmosphere and create disharmony". 

Mannan Bashir Wani is a PhD student from the Department of Geology. The university authority has also sealed his room, said the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of AMU.

Earlier in the day, the Uttar Pradesh Police had conducted raids at the university in search of Wani, who went missing a few days back.

Wani, who hails from Jammu and Kashmir, had recently appeared in a photograph posted on social media holding an AK-47 rifle, with a message claiming that he has joined militancy. 

"Mannan Wani, son of Bashir Ahmad Wani, joined Hizbul Mujahideen on January 5," read the message that appeared on WhatsApp and Facebook along with his photograph.

However, the Kupwara police had expressed caution to the viral photo and had said there is no confirmation yet on whether Mannan has joined militancy or not. IG of Kashmir had suspected that Mannan's photograph may have been photoshopped by some miscreants and that they are trying to locate him. He was last seen in Delhi. 

Aligarh SSP Rajesh Pandey too asserted that while there are reports of Mannan joining Hizbul Mujahideen, there has been no confirmation on the same. 

Soon after the photograph went viral on the social media, the AMU administration had suspended the PhD scholar from the college.

Wani's brother, Mubashir Ahmad, reportedly said that he and his family have no idea whether he has joined militancy or not. As per Mubashir, they lost contact with Wani on January 4 after his phone appeared to be switched off. 

Ater failing to contact Munnan, his family registered a missing report with police on Saturday.

As per another report, Mannan had left AMU a few days ago and was supposed to reach his home in Kupwara on January 3. 

Wani had enrolled in AMU after successfully completing Bachelors in Geology and Earth Sciences from the University of Kashmir. He had also completed his Master's and MPhil in Geology from AMU. 

The official website of the university says that the 26-year-old Wani was pursuing a PhD on 'Structural and Geo-Morphological Study of Lolab Valley, Kashmir'. He had also won an award for the best paper presentation at an International Conference in 2016. 

Wani's father is a lecturer while his brother Mubashir is an engineer.