A policeman, who was the personal security officer of a Deputy Superintendent of Police, has fled with four AK-47 rifles along with 13 magazines and is believed to have joined militant ranks in South Kashmir.
The incident, which has sent jitters in the police machinery, took place in Bijbehara, 50 kilometres south of Srinagar, when constable Shakoor Ahmed failed to report for duty for two days.
After verification from his family and others, he was said to be missing for last few days along with his two other friends from his ancestral village in Shopian in South Kashmir.
Immediately, weapon counting was done and it was found that he had walked away with four AK-47 rifles and 13 magazines. One magazine has 30 bullets.
He was posted on guard duties with SDPO Bijbehara Irshad Ahmad, who was attacked last month by militants while he was supervising a religious procession in his locality.
An alert has been sounded in South Kashmir area to trace the "deserter", a senior police official said.
This incident comes barely a few months after such cases surfaced in the Kashmir Valley.
In March last year, personal security officer Naseer Ahmed Pandit of state Minister Altaf Bukhari ran away with his assault rifle and joined Hizbul Mujahideen led by Burhan Wani in South Kashmir. He was later seen posing in pictures with him.
Later, constables Bashir Ahmad and Mohammad Reyaz deserted the Jammu and Kashmir police and joined Hizbul Mujahideen in September last year.
There have been three such incidents of Special Police Officers (SPOs) running away with weapons and joining militant ranks in Doda district of Jammu region.
