New Delhi: Jammu & Kashmir Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Davinder Singh was at the Srinagar airport last week when the envoys of 15 nations touched down for a day-long tour of the Valley five months after the scrapping of Article 370.
The fact that Singh has now been booked for allegedly being complicit with local terrorists has the team of envoys “concerned” about what they see as a “lapse”.
“We have also seen the reports, it’s very concerning. But we are safely back,” said one of the diplomats. “The government should have been more cautious.”
Another ambassador called Singh’s inclusion in the security detail a “lapse”, adding that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) should come on record on the issue.
Yet another envoy, however, said the security arrangement was robust and that their well-being was given topmost priority.
Speaking to ThePrint, official sources sought to make light of Singh’s presence at the airport. At the time of his arrest, they said, Singh was posted with the anti-hijacking squad of J&K Police at the airport and was not part of the security team that accompanied the envoys during their time in the Valley.
The central government is yet to make an official statement on Singh’s arrest.
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A decorated officer
A delegation of 15 foreign diplomats, including US ambassador Kenneth Juster, was taken to Kashmir last week by the central government, reportedly for a briefing on the situation in the Valley.
Over five months since the scrapping of Article 370, Kashmir remains under an internet lockdown with many senior politicians still detained.
Apart from the US, the delegation included representatives from Bangladesh, Vietnam, Maldives, Togo, Fiji, Niger, South Korea, Philippines, Morocco, Nigeria, Argentina, Peru, Guyana and Norway.
The team was led by Vikas Swarup, Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs.
A decorated officer with 25 years under his belt, Singh was arrested over the weekend and booked under the Unlawful Activities Act after he was allegedly caught two suspected militants and an overground worker from Kashmir to Jammu.
He joined the counterinsurgency wing, then known as the special task force, in the 1990s. In 1994, an exclusive unit was created for counter-terrorism operations and named the Special Operations Group (SOG).
As one of the core members of the SOG in Jammu & Kashmir, Singh has been part of several anti-militancy and counter-terrorism operations and encounters in the Valley.
On Independence Day last year, Singh was among 76 policemen from J&K to be given the President’s Police Medal for Meritorious Service.
With inputs from Ananya Bhardwaj
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