A Special Police Officer (SPO) from south Kashmir has reportedly joined militant ranks. Rakib Bashir, a resident of Zodoora in Pulwama district, went missing on November 10.
While the police said they were verifying facts after Bashir’s parents lodged a missing person report, sources said the SPO, who was engaged by the police almost a month back, had joined militant ranks.
“The SPO has joined militant ranks and we are ascertaining which militant group he has joined,” said a senior police officer in Srinagar.
“The SPO was engaged by the police almost a month back. His order for disengagement have already been issued after he went missing. The SPO had some association with militant groups in the past as well,” said the officer.
The SPO did not flee with any weapon. In Jammu and Kashmir, SPOs work with the state police and each gets an honorarium of Rs 3,000.
Pulwama Senior Superintendent of Police Tejinder Singh said they were verifying whether Bashir had joined militant ranks.
“He had not properly joined as an SPO. On November 10, his parents lodged a missing person report, which we are verifying,” he told. In the past, Bashir was working as part-time worker at a bank in Pulwama.
Recently, two SPO-turned-militants were killed in Doda district of the Jammu region. Last month, two militants, who had deserted the force as SPOs in September and rejoined militants, were killed in a gunfight in Doda district of the Jammu region.
Earlier this year, police constable Naseer Ahmad Pandit (29) from south Kashmir joined the militant group Hizbul Mujahideen. He was posted at the residence of minister Altaf Bukhari in the Sheikh Bagh neighbourhood of Lal Chowk.
Naseer fled on March 28 with two rifles. Later, he joined Burhan Wani group, which is the new face of militancy in Kashmir. Burhan, who carries a reward of Rs 10 lakh, has been spearheading the social media campaign of the Hizb to attract the youth towards militancy.
This year, over 40 youths had joined militants in the Kashmir region and most of them belonged to south Kashmir.
Missing SPO may have joined militants
