Security agencies in Jammu and Kashmir and other States have increased their checks on people who earned MBBS degrees from Pakistan and Bangladesh in the last 20 years. This comes after a “white-collar” terror module – involving highly educated people, including doctors – was recently exposed, according to a report by Deccan Herald.
From the early 2000s, hundreds of Kashmiri students went to Pakistan for medical studies. In recent years, many others chose Bangladesh. This entire group is now being reviewed for any suspicious financial or cross-border links, the report mentioned.
The first major batch of students travelled to Pakistan between 2001 and 2010, joining medical colleges in places like Rawalpindi, Abbottabad, Bahawalpur, Faisalabad and Peshawar. Some crossed over during peak militancy, while others went legally on student visas or through contacts created by separatist networks and families connected to militants.
Concerns over terror financing
Intelligence agencies have long believed that some of these admissions were supported by Pakistan-based organisations later linked to terror financing. In some cases, fees were allegedly paid through hawala channels, which could later be misused by handlers.
After returning to Kashmir, many Pakistan-educated doctors faced problems getting their degrees recognised in India and clearing the mandatory screening exam. Agencies believe only a small number remained in touch with groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba or Hizbul Mujahideen, while most others either worked normally in the healthcare sector or moved abroad. Officials insist the concern is limited to a tiny fraction of individuals whose travel history, money movements or communication patterns seem suspicious, as per the DH report.
Bangladesh became the preferred option
As scrutiny grew around Pakistan-educated doctors, many Kashmiri students began choosing Bangladesh in the last decade. Dozens enrolled in medical colleges in Dhaka, Sylhet, Rajshahi and Chittagong because the fees were lower and admissions more predictable. Though Bangladesh itself is not seen as a security risk, investigators say admissions were sometimes arranged through agents who operated in both countries, using unclear financial channels. Some students studying in Bangladesh also travelled to Pakistan or Gulf countries without a clear academic reason, raising further questions.
The recent arrest of at least three doctors and several professionals linked to a “white-collar” terror network triggered the current large-scale review. Investigators say this module used people with clean, respectable profiles – such as doctors and graduates – to move money, pass messages and offer logistical help to handlers across the border. These arrests have strengthened concerns that medical education routes abroad were occasionally used to build sleeper cells and trusted intermediaries.
Security agencies compiling database of students
Now, security agencies in J&K, the NIA and Central intelligence units are compiling a full database of all Kashmiri students who studied medicine in Pakistan between 1998 and 2015, and those who went to Bangladesh from 2010 onwards. They are checking how these students funded their education, who helped them get admission, whether they had family connections across the border, and what they have been doing professionally since returning – including anyone running unregistered clinics or repeatedly failing India’s medical screening exams, it added.
The probe is expected to expand in the coming weeks, with agencies preparing a detailed report on the link between admissions, funding and possible misuse, and assessing whether stricter checks will be needed for future applicants to medical colleges in certain regions.
