An army soldier, who was on leave and just a day away to join back duties in Ladakh, went missing near his home in south Kashmir’s Kulgam on Saturday evening triggering concern among his family that he was kidnapped by militants.
Police officials and family members of Javed Ahmad Wani, in his late 20s, said Wani had left his home at Asthal in Kulgam in his car on Saturday evening to buy some food items as he was to leave for Ladakh on Sunday to join his duties.
They said his car was found abandoned some distance away from the home.
“He left for market at 7.30 pm and after some time, we found his car with blood marks. One of his slippers and a cap was also there,” said his brother, Mudasir Ahmad Wani.
Javed, a soldier with 3-JAKLI in Ladakh, had come home on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha on June 29.
Mudasir said he was to leave home to join his duties on Sunday. “He had asked me to drop him off at Srinagar on Sunday. He had already packed his things,” he said.
The soldier’s disappearance has triggered fears that he might have been kidnapped by militants prompting a massive manhunt by the security forces in Kulgam and beyond.
{{/usCountry}}The soldier’s disappearance has triggered fears that he might have been kidnapped by militants prompting a massive manhunt by the security forces in Kulgam and beyond.
{{/usCountry}}“The searches are going on and we are investigating the abduction angle as well,” said a police officer without confirming whether he was abducted by militants.
Kulgam SSP Sahil Sarangal said he was too busy to share any details about the incident.
Army spokesperson Lt Col MK Sahu said the soldier was on leave. “We are collecting details about the reported incident,” he said.
A local of Kulgam said it seems unlikely that anyone could abduct a young army soldier like Javed unless they had weapons. “Who can abduct such a young army man except militants,” he said.
Meanwhile, his family has appealed to those who might have abducted the soldier to release him alive since he was the only breadwinner of the family.
Last year in March, Lashker-e-Taiba outfit abducted and killed army soldier Sameer Ahmad Malla, whose body was found in an orchard in Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam district, said the police.
In September 2021, a decomposed body of a Territorial Army (TA) soldier Shakir Manzoor Wagay, who had gone missing in August 2020, was recovered from Kulgam district. Rifleman Shakir Manzoor, a resident of Shopian, had gone missing after his car was stopped and then set on fire.