When several strangers arrived at the house of Nisar Ahmad Dhobi at around 6.30 am on Friday, his wife was immediately suspicious. A constable in Jammu and Kashmir Police, Dhobi had returned the previous evening to his home at Shopian for the weekend.
As family members raised a hue and cry, the three militants were joined by five-six others waiting outside. They forced Dhobi to accompany them but promised his family that he will be released soon. Half-an-hour later, his bullet-ridden body was found not far from his home in Kapran, about 60 km from Srinagar.
A day after three J&K police personnel were killed in the Valley, it has emerged that the militants adopted a similar ploy to abduct the security personnel, including two special police officers (SPOs).
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At least 1,660 police personnel have been killed by militants in Kashmir since 1990. The latest incidents took the number of police personnel killed this year alone to 33. Several family members of police personnel have also been abducted, and a few killed, by militants in the valley.
A family member of Dhobi—survived by his wife, 18-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son—said the militants had promised to release him after “making his video”.
“Nisar has two children and aged blind parents,” said Bashir Ahmad, one of the neigbours.
Almost simultaneously at Batgund village, about half-a-km from Kapran, militants abducted SPO Kulwant Singh, whose family was the only Hindu household in the village. The Rajput family pleaded with the militants to spare saying he had resigned from the force and was into the clothes business. Even his neighbours made heartfelt requests to the militants to release Singh, who is survived by wife and two daughters.
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From the same village, the militants also abducted Firdous Ahmad Kuchey, also an SPO. According to family members, his parents followed the militants and pleaded for releasing Kuchey, father of an 18-month-old daughter. Villagers said they heard gunshots about 15 minutes after the abduction and the three bodies were found at the same place.
The killings followed alleged announcements through mosque by militants, asking police personnel to leave the force.
After Friday’s incident several policemen took to social media to announce their resignation. According to the sources, around a dozen policemen have resigned in different parts of the south Kashmir. At some places, the imams of local mosques read out the resignation letters on behalf of these police men.
A senior police official said on the condition of anonymity that the latest killings will have long-term ramifications. “The trust has been broken and it is only fear that is working,” he said. He said there were certain norms in the nearly 29-year-long conflict which are not being adhered to. “The situation seems scary and I can tell you that the police lower rung is no longer interested in anything. They want the Army to take over,” he said.
