Two Special Police Officers (SPOs), on a patrol, went missing along with their weapons on Wednesday afternoon in the upper reaches of Marwah in Jammu & Kashmir’s Kishtwar district, prompting security forces to launch a massive joint search operation to trace them, officials said.
The duo was identified as Rashpal Kumar, 40, and Babbi Chand, 54, both of whom were posted with the special operations group (SOG) of the local police at their Kiyar village in Dachhan, they added.
According to reports, locals heard some gunshots in the area between Kiyar and Derana before the two SPOs went missing. “The two were part of a patrol party. They were on their way to makeshift base of 17 RR in Basnan area of Inderwal. It’s a remote area with poor mobile connectivity,” said a police officer.
Following their disappearance, a massive search operation was launched jointly by the police, CRPF and the army to locate them. Security teams were deployed in the surrounding areas to establish their whereabouts and ascertain the circumstances surrounding their disappearance, officials said.
They said it would be premature to link the incident to any terrorist activity until the facts emerge. However, the disappearance has drawn attention to the security situation in the mountainous district, which has witnessed a series of terror-related incidents over the past several years.
Successive counter-insurgency operations have resulted in the killing of several active terrorists, significantly weakening their presence in the district. Nevertheless, the difficult terrain and vast forested stretches continue to pose operational challenges for security agencies, the officials said.
A principal correspondent, Ravi Krishnan Khajuria is the bureau chief at Jammu. With nearly 25 years of experience with Hindustan Times, The Tribune and Kashmir Times, he covers politics, defence, crime, terrorism, Indo-Pak border skirmishes, legislative assembly proceedings, health and civic and environmental issues for Jammu region. He also reports geo-political developments from strategic Ladakh region.Read More