MISSING VALLEY JAWAN JOINS HIZBUL RANKS

SRINAGAR: A Kashmiri soldier has joined Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), army officials in Delhi confirmed on Monday after a photograph of Idrees Sultan Mir brandishing an assault rifle surfaced on social media.

It is common for young men in the Valley to announce their allegiance to militant outfits through social media by releasing pictures with weapons and in fatigues.

The 23-year-old, who joined the army three years ago, was on leave since April 7 and went missing on April 13-14, the army officials said. Mir was posted in Bihar’s Danapur.

“Details are being ascertained,” said Col Rajesh Kalia, a Srinagar-based defence spokesperson.

The text slapped on the photo of Mir, also known as Chota Abrar, says he joined the home-grown militant outfit on April 15.

It goes on to say Mir, a native of Wachi in Shopian in south Kashmir, was with the army’s Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry unit and was posted in Bihar.

A senior police officer in Shopian confirmed that Mir had been missing for a few days. “We are ascertaining the details of the case,” the officer said on condition of anonymity.

The family had informed police a few days ago that their son was missing, he added.

In July last, a Kashmiri soldier, Zahoor Ahmad Thokar, deserted his unit, took away his service rifle and joined the Hizbul, which is active in south Kashmir and has local youth in its ranks.

Thokar, a native of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, was posted in Baramullah in north Kashmir.