2 missing SPOs found shot dead in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar

The bullet-riddled bodies of two special police officers (SPOs) were recovered from a forest in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district early Thursday, a day after they went missing while travelling to report for patrolling duty, officials aware of the matter said, adding that their service weapons and ammunition were missing and are believed to have been taken away by terrorists.SPOs are local residents engaged on a temporary, honorarium-based arrangement to assist the regular police in maintaining law and order. (PTI)The incident follows an attack on a CRPF checkpost in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Wednesday, in which three security personnel were injured, one of them critically.“The bodies were recovered between 8am and 9am on Thursday,” a security official said, requesting anonymity. “A massive operation is underway to identify, track and neutralise the assailants.”The deceased have been identified as Babi Chand (57) and Rashpal Kumar (45), both residents of Kiyar village in the remote Dachhan tehsil in Kishtwar. Posted with the special operations group (SOG) of local police at Kiyar, the two were heading towards a temporary base of army’s 17 Rashtriya Rifles in the Dharna-Marwah belt on Wednesday afternoon when they went out of contact, officials said.Also Read | What makes Kishtwar a safe haven for terroristsSPOs are local residents engaged on a temporary, honorarium-based arrangement to assist the regular police in maintaining law and order.Local residents, according to officials, reported hearing gunshots between Kiyar and Dharna on Wednesday afternoon. Initially, their mobile phones were reachable, though calls went unanswered; the devices were later switched off, prompting police and security forces to launch a search operation, officials said.The slain personnel’s service weapons — an INSAS rifle and a .303 rifle along with some magazines and ammunition — were missing and are believed to have been taken away by terrorists, officials said. Investigators recovered empty cartridges of Pakistani-origin armour-piercing steel-core ammunition from the scene, they added.Also Read | SPOs and their role in J&K’s security operations in focus after 2 found dead in KishtwarSecurity forces rushed reinforcements to the area, deploying drones to scan dense forest stretches and sniffer dogs to track movement along the Kiyar-Dharna route, officials said.There was no official statement from the J&K police or the army on the incident till going to print.Kishtwar legislator and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shagun Parihar condemned the attack.“Two of our SPOs have been killed; this is deeply tragic. It is thanks to these SPOs that the people in our village remain safe,” she was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. “I condemn this attack by terrorists in the strongest possible terms. I have full faith in (Union) home minister Amit Shah and our security forces that the deaths of these two men will be avenged as soon as possible.”The killings come a day after terrorists attacked a CRPF checkpost near Mir Bazaar in Kulgam on Wednesday, injuring three personnel, including one critically, police said. The attack took place around 2.15pm when the jawans were on guard duty.Also Read | Two Special Police Officers who went missing during patrol in J&K’s Kishtwar found deadIn recent months, Kishtwar has seen multiple counter-insurgency operations, leading to the neutralisation of several active terrorists. At least four terrorists have been neutralised and am army soldier killed in terror-related incidents in the district so far this year, officials said.On October 14, another SPO, Bashir Ahmed, 55, went missing from the Pedil police post along with his self-loading rifle. His body was found near his house in Wanipora Trigam two days later, with police subsequently arresting a father-son duo over an alleged land dispute.