Teen returns home after posing with guns

THE POLICE REFUSED TO REVEAL WHETHER 19YEAROLD MIR HAD SURRENDERED OR HE WAS ARRESTED

A Kashmiri teenager, whose gun-wielding pictures had gone viral on social media a week back, has returned to his family, police said on Thursday.

Nineteen-year-old Tufail Ahmad Mir, a first semester college student from Srinagar’s Qamarwari area, had gone missing on May 20.

A few days later, pictures of him posing with a gun appeared on social media, raising concerns that he might have joined militancy.

Deputy inspector general GH Bhat put those fears to rest and informed the media that Mir had returned to his family. He, however, did not reveal if the teenager had surrendered or he was arrested.

“Why should I tell you whether he surrendered or was arrested?” Bhat said and added that the boy was not in police custody.

A senior police official confirmed that Mir, who had recently joined college, had gotten in touch with militants.

A large number of local youth have joined militancy after the encounter of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani last year.

Earlier on May 14, the then Kashmir inspector general SJM Gilani had said that there are around 200 militants active in Kashmir, with around 110 of them being locals.

Gillani had also said that as many as 95 Kashmiri youth had joined militancy in the past year alone.

Superintended of Police (SP) east-city Gurvinder Pal Singh told Hindustan Times last week that two youths from his area had joined militancy after Burhan’s death.