‘Missing scholar from Bemina not listed as militant yet’

Srinagar: Police on Sunday said that after the killing of a Lashkar-e-Toiba militant from Srinagar in an encounter at Ranbirgarh, Lawaypora, on Srinagar outskirts on Saturday, no Srinagar resident is in militant ranks now. The missing PhD scholar from Bemina, Srinagar, has not been listed in the militant category yet as more verification is needed, a police officer said.
“After the killing of Lashkar-e-Toiba militant Ishfaq Rashid Khan, no resident of Srinagar district is in militant ranks now,” announced Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, on J&K Police’s official Twitter handle.
A senior police officer told news agency Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that police have not listed the missing PhD scholar from Bemina, Hilal Ahmed Dar, in the militant category. “We have not listed him as a militant yet as more verification is needed,” he said.
On June 16, Dar, a resident of Housing Colony Bemina, who was pursuing PhD in Management Studies, went missing after going on a trek in the hills of Naranag in Ganderbal district. Though four of his friends returned home, Dar didn’t. Since then his family members, especially his uncles, have been moving from pillar to post to track him, but so far there are no whereabouts known of him.
On June 23, at a wreath laying ceremony of a slain CRPF man at RTC Humhama, IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar in presence of DGP Dilbagh Singh had said that the missing Bemina youth had reportedly joined militant ranks. However, the family members of Dar strongly refuted the police claim and asserted that their son had no inclination towards militancy.
Talking to KNO, Dar’s uncle Nisar Ahmed said that after today’s police tweet, their claim stands vindicated. “Even today we had gone to Naranag to look for our son. We walked right up to the spot where the friends of Hilal had spotted him last time. We request the police to help us in tracing him,” Nisar said.

KR Desk