Hours after three policemen were abducted and killed by militants in Shopian, six policemen from Shopian, Kulgam and Pulwama announced decisions to resign in videos that were circulated on social media and WhatsApp.
The policemen—five SPOs (special police officers) and a constable—were identified as Nawaz Ahmad Lone, Shabir Ahmad Thokar, Umar Bashir, Mukhtar Ahmed Lone, Naseer Ahmad Ahmad Lone and Irshad Ahmad Baba (constable).
In one of the videos, Thokar is heard saying he has been working as an SPO for the past eight years. ''Through this video, I want to inform the people that from 20/9/2018, I have no connection with the police....I am quitting the job out of my own free will. I will raise my children with honour without any fear and pressure,'' he says in the video.
In another video, Baba is heard saying he was working in police as a constable. ''From today I have nothing to do with the police. I am leaving the job out of my own free will,'' he says.
''I was working in the police department. Currently, I am feeling very threatened as the situation is very bad and that is why my family, including my wife, is telling me to resign,'' says Lone in another video.
''I have got the affidavit and the form. This is the proof. I had gone to the department yesterday but they told me it (resignation) would take 10-15 days.''
The videos appeared after militants abducted three policemen—Firdous Ahmad Kuchay, Kulwant Singh and Nisar Ahmad—from Kapran and Butagund villages, 10km from Shopian town, around 6.30 am on Friday and shot them dead 1km away at Laam.
The family members of the slain cops told THE WEEK that militants told them they would release policemen and warned them not to chase them. ''But after taking them away at gunpoint, the militants killed all three outside the village at Laam,'' said a relative of the slain policemen.
This year, 37 policemen, the highest since the beginning of the militancy, have been killed by militants, mostly in south Kashmir.
On August 30, militants kidnapped 12 relatives of policemen in south Kashmir in retaliation to the alleged ransacking of the homes of militants and arrest of their kin by police.
The police, however, denied ransacking the homes of the militants.
Additional Director General of Police (law and order) Muneer Khan told THE WEEK, '' We are a professional force and don't believe in harassment of anybody,” adding, “but any relative or friend of a militant, who is involved in illegal activity, will be dealt with according to the law.''
