The body of an off-duty soldier with bullets injuries was recovered by police in Shopian in south Kashmir on Saturday morning. This is believed to be third instance of an off-duty Kashmiri soldier being fatally targetted this year.
Ambarkar Shriram, SSP Shopian, told THE WEEK that the soldier, Irfan Dar, belonged to the Territorial Army and was on leave.
''He was posted in Gurez and had come home. His body was found at Wathmula,'' Shriram said.
Shriram ruled out the possibility Dar had been kidnapped by militants and then shot dead.
''We don't believe he was kidnapped as his body was found close to his vehicle and the keys of the vehicle were found in his pocket,'' Shriram said.
Dar, police sources said, was a resident of Sazen and his body was recovered 3 km from his home. Sources told THE WEEK Dar had left home in his i10 car on Friday but did not return. The next morning, his pheran-clad body was recovered at Wathmula.
He was found lying flat on his face with a bullet wound below his left shoulder. The police meanwhile started investigations into the killing. The killing of Dar came a day before the Central government's special representative Dineshwar Sharma 's visit to the volatile south Kashmir region where he intends to talk to various delegations including from the youth. Sharma had said he was ready to meet 22-year-old Majid Khan, the footballer, who had joined Lashkar-e-Toiba but returned home after his mother made emotional appeals to him.
Third such incident in 2017
On May 10, militants had kidnapped and killed another off-duty soldier, Army lieutenant Umer Fayaz, from his uncle's home at Badigund near Shopian where he had gone to attend the marriage of his cousin sister. His body was recovered outside the village next morning. The security forces killed the militants involved in Fayaz's killing a few months later.
In late September, militants stormed into the house of a BSF jawan. Rameez Parrey, when he was on leave, in Bandipora district and shot him dead. Four of his relatives were also injured.
Army officials said militants have started targeting native Kashmiri soldiers when they are off duty to intimidate the local population against joining the security forces.
-With agency inputs
