In an audacious move, 11 young Kashmiri militants donning army fatigues and holding firearms, posted their photographs on Facebook, forcing the security forces to sit up and take notice.
The picture, which remained on 'Facebook' for two days, showed 11 militants, who recently joined the banned Hizbul Mujahideen terror outfit.
It has disappeared from the social networking site but the move has sent alarm bells ringing in the security establishment in Jammu and Kashmir, including army and central security agencies, since the annual Amarnath pilgrimage began yesterday.
The central security agencies have sought details from the social networking site about the Internet Protocol addresses from where the photos were uplinked and then deleted, official sources said.
Those in the photograph include ex-constable of Jammu and Kashmir Police Naseer, who ran away with two AK-47 rifles while on guard duty with Altaf Bukhari, a Minister in the Mufti Sayeed-headed PDP-BJP government, and Burhan Wani, a resident of Tral, who has emerged as the young face of Hizbul Mujahideen in the Valley.
The location where the picture was shot seemed to be somewhere in orchards of Shopian or Pulwama in South Kashmir, which has become a fertile ground for recruitment of youths into various militant outfits.
Innumerable images of Burhan and posts extolling him were uploaded on social networking sites like Facebook which the security agencies have got removed but that has not erased his popularity.
Young militant leaders like Burhan, with an appeal among the youth of the region, are helping swell the militant ranks, a development security agencies feel, carry grim portents for the Valley.
It is however, still rare for militants to upload their photograps on social networking sites lest it should facilitate swift action against them by the law enforcement agencies.
