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The death of Aligarh Muslim University reader S R Siras and the sting operation on him have brought into focus a shadowy intelligence unit inside the university that spies on students and teachers.

The third unnamed 'reporter' in the FIR lodged in the case filed by Siras is allegedly associated with the university's local intelligence unit (LIU), said a source.

An FIR has been registered against four AMU professors - Proctor Zubair Khan, Deputy Proctor Fareed Ahmad Khan, spokesperson Rahat Abrar and Media Adviser NAK Durrani - and three mediapersons, one unidentified, for forcefully landing up at Prof Siras's house and videographing him having sex with a rickshaw puller.

The LIU, besides having Proctors and Deputy Proctors at the top, has proctoral monitors and deputy proctoral monitors among the students who act as informers.

A university employee, Md Chaman, had sought to know the need for such a body on the campus through an RTI application. The Proctor's office, in its response in November last year, while admitting the presence of LIU, had stated, "The aim and objectives of LIU are to collect information... which helps take preventive measures in maintaining law and order on the campus."

"The UGC or the Ministry of HRD have not been informed by the Proctor's Office about the existence of LIU," it had stated.

Proctor Md Zubair Khan confirmed: "There is such a proctorial team on the university. You can call it a local intelligence unit where students give information about campus activities and unwanted elements. There are watch and ward staff who are salaried employees. We also have students - proctoral monitors and deputy proctoral monitors - who act as campus monitors. The aim is to maintain law and order in the university." On the sting operation on Siras, Zubair said, "The LIU team had nothing to do with it."

A research scholar in the department of mass communication said, "It is well known that the mastermind of the Siras sting operation is associated with the LIU. Students who are part of LIU enjoy the support of the university higher-ups-right from the V-C to the Proctor."

A research scholar in Siras's department of Modern Indian Languages, who too is an 'informer' for LIU, is also said to have played a crucial role in the sting operation. This student is said to have collected information about his "activities" and passed it on to the LIU.

Tariqul Islam, a reader in the department of philosophy, said: "There was some kind of surveillance of Siras's residence at the behest of the university. It is mentioned in the Proctor's report that he reached Siras's residence after being informed by LIU guards." "At AMU, you have sleuths in plainclothes snooping around, spying on you all the time," he added.

SP, Aligarh, Maan Singh Chauhan, said, "We still have no leads on the third person named in the FIR. We can have some clue when we begin questioning (people) in the case."

Siras was placed under suspension by AMU Vice Chancellor P K Abdul Aziz on charges of homosexuality at his house inside the campus after a sting operation. However, the Allahabad High Court stayed the decision. The body of 62-year-old Siras, who taught Marathi, was found on April 7 in his apartment outside the university after the police broke open the door.

Saba Rahman

Sunday , Apr 11, 2010

Source : http://www.indianexpress.com/news/shadow-of-amus-spy-wing-on-siras-sting/604027/0

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