12 Myanmar PhD students missing from city since 2008

NAGPUR: Alarm bells are ringing in the city police department after the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) found that at least a dozen international students are not available at addresses they had provided. All the students are from Myanmar and had come to the city to earn a doctorate in Pali and Prakrit languages from the RTM Nagpur University. With the students missing since 2008, the ATS now plan to inform their state bosses.

The discovery came following a survey by the city ATS who were acting on instructions from the headquarters. As per rules, it's mandatory for foreign students to register themselves at the foreign registration office of the special branch of the city police. Subsequently, the students must inform the police of their every move, especially change of residence and time of departure.

The courses that were being pursued by the Myanmar students usually take 2-5 years to complete.

Though the ATS have spotted the glitch, some of its officers feel that the city police records may not have been updated. Strangely, a senior officer of the special branch TOI spoke to was clueless about the missing students.

During the survey, the ATS officials were shocked to see that many of the students are not residing at the addresses that they have provided. "It is an offence as per the Foreigner's Act but city police have to register the case," said a source in the ATS. "We do not know if the students have returned after completing their studies or have shifted their place of stay. They may even be engaging in anti-national activities," he added.

The ATS source stated that the authorities of the university hostel, located at Law College Square on Amravati road, have a record of 16 PhD students residing at their premises and another four staying at a monastery at Hingna Road. But the whereabouts of another 12, all from Myanmar, are not known.

The missing 12 had submitted their local place of stay at a Chandramani Nagar monastery near Ajni. "The in-charge of the place did not know where and when they had moved out and also if they had completed their PhD," said the ATS source.

The sources said that a PhD guide, residing at Kamptee road, too had housed a Myanmar student but "he had left the place two months ago without informing of his next destination".

The ATS source flayed the city police for not updating its records and also not sharing information with them. "There is a complete lack of inter-department coordination," he added.

University sources claimed that it's not their responsibility to maintain residential record of the students. "It's also the moral duty to inform to inform us about their plans as it hampers our communication with them," said the source.

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2013/06/30/12-myanmar-phd-students-missing-from-city-since-2008/