New Delhi: The two Special Police Officers (SPOs) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, who were found dead in Kishtwar district with bullet wounds after being missing for hours, were allegedly abducted and killed by unidentified terrorists, sources in the security establishment told ThePrint.
The terrorists are also suspected to have taken away their service weapons—an INSAS rifle and a .303 rifle.
Sources also suspect that the two personnel may have been assaulted before being killed. The exact sequence of events is, however, yet to be established.
The two personnel, identified as Rashpal Kumar (45) and Bobby Chand (57), had gone missing from a densely forested area in the Kiyar sector of Dachhan in Kishtwar around 3 pm Wednesday. Their bullet-riddled bodies were recovered early Thursday morning.
According to a police source, the two were deployed at a Tactical Operating Base (TOB) set up by J&K Police in the area, and were returning to their camp as part of a personnel rotation. Both were in civilian clothes when they were allegedly abducted.
“The two men were on their way back to the camp at Dharna in the Marwah sector when they went missing. Their phones were switched off,” the source told ThePrint, adding that an escort party had been tasked with bringing the two personnel back to the base and dropping off another group of personnel.
“The escort party saw the two men walking towards the camp and proceeded to drop off the other personnel. It was during this period that the two went missing and their phones were switched off,” the source said.
Their bodies, which bore multiple bullet wounds, were found the following morning, while their service weapons were missing. According to sources, one of the personnel had bullet injuries to the head and back, while the other was shot in the chest and stomach area.
The circumstances surrounding the killings remain unclear. A second source in the security establishment said there had been no intelligence inputs suggesting the presence or movement of terrorists in the area before the incident.
However, security forces across the region had been put on high alert following an attack in Kulgam just a day earlier, in which three CRPF personnel were injured after a terrorist opened fire on them.
ThePrint attempted to contact Jammu Inspector General of Police Tejinder Singh for a comment via phone calls and text messages, but he did not respond.
Earlier, he had told ThePrint that an official statement on the incident would be issued soon. However, no statement had been issued by the time of publication. This report will be updated once an official response is received.
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