KISHTWAR (The Thursday Times) — Two Special Police Officers went missing in the higher reaches of Kishtwar district in Indian-administered Kashmir on Wednesday, prompting a large joint search by the police and the army, officials said.
The officers were identified as Rashpal Kumar, 45, and Babi Chand, 57. Both are attached to the Special Operations Group of the local police and were posted at Kiyar village in the remote Dachhan area.
According to officials, the two set out from the Kiyar camp for an army post at Dharna-Marwah but never arrived. Their mobile phones could be reached at first and were later switched off.
No conclusions yet, officials say
Police and soldiers of the army’s Rashtriya Rifles have fanned out across the mountainous, forested terrain around the route. Officials said it was too early to link the disappearance to terrorist activity and that the circumstances were still being established.
Special Police Officers are locally recruited personnel who work alongside the regular police, often as guides and in counter-terrorism operations in areas they know well.
Kishtwar has been a focus of counter-terrorism operations for several years. Security forces have killed a number of terrorists hiding in its forests, but the steep terrain and dense cover continue to make operations difficult. Officials say five people, four of them terrorists and one a soldier, have been killed in terror-related incidents in the district so far this year.
It comes as investigators examine the site of an attack in Kulgam, in the Kashmir valley, where terrorists wounded three CRPF personnel at a checkpost.
