Kashmir teenager, who joined militant ranks, returns home

SRINAGAR : A Kashmiri teenager who had gone missing in October from a university in Uttar Pradesh and was suspected to have joined militants has returned home, police said on Sunday.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police said the teenager was brought back into “mainstream” with the help of his family.

“It was owing to the relentless efforts of his family that he has come back. We facilitated his return,” inspector general of police, Kashmir, SP Pani said.

Police requested media to withhold the name of the individual owing to the sensitivity of the matter.

His family members said that he had returned home bleeding and was taken away by police.

The teenager was studying in a university in Uttar Pradesh when he went missing on October 28. He had informed his father that he was going on a trip to Delhi. However, according to police, his call details showed his location in J&K.

Earlier, on October 4, he was roughed up by a group of students who mistook him as a foreign student during a clash.

Nearly a week after he went missing, a picture of his wearing a black outfit with some munitions strapped across his body and posing with a flag of the Islamic State announced his joining the IS group.The picture appeared digitally altered. An audio message attributed to the teenager had mentioned about the attack in the university, stating that he had made up his mind to join militancy after the incident. His parents and relatives in old city Srinagar made consistent efforts by protesting and issuing video messages on social media, asking him to return and urging that he should be “allowed to go if he is with anybody”.

A police official, requesting anonymity, said the teenager has been dealt on “compassionate grounds” and was not arrested. “There are some technical issues and some paper work which needs to be done,” he said. He added that the teenager needs medical attention immediately.