Young army officer kidnapped, killed

Lt Fayaz was attending a wedding

A 22-year-old army officer was kidnapped from a wedding and brutally killed in south Kashmir late on Tuesday.

Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz, a native of Kulgam district, joined the army in December and was serving in the Akhnoor area in Jammu. He was on leave till May 24. Fayaz was kidnapped from the village in Shopian district at 10 pm on Tuesday. Three or four masked militants went up to the first floor of his woman cousin’s house and dragged him out, a source said.

“The terrified family didn’t report the kidnapping to the police or the army as they had been threatened not to do so. Early in the morning, his bullet-riddled body was found in a village nearby. He had bullet injuries in his head and chest,” a source said. The post-mortem showed bruises on his body, indicating he had resisted the militants before they killed him.

Calling the killing a dastardly act, the Indian Army said it would “bring the perpetrators of this heinous act of terror to justice”. This was the first time Fayaz had taken leave after joining the army. He was to have returned to his Rajputana Rifles unit in Akhnoor on May 25. Survived by his father, mother and two sisters, Fayaz had passed out of the prestigious National Defence Academy.

Since insurgency began in 1990, he is the first Kashmiri army officer to be killed while on leave in his home state, an officer said. The kidnapping and murder is part of a new trend where militants target security personnel even when they are off duty.

Last month, the Jammu and Kashmir Police chief had advised his men not to visit their homes, especially in southern Kashmir. A senior police officer said Fayaz was probably not aware of the advisory, and hadn’t thought twice “about going to his village unarmed”.

Disturbed funeral

Meanwhile, reports said the army marched into the village of the slain officer after a group pelted stones at the security forces during Fayaz’s funeral. The stone-pelting began after police fired gunshots in the air. The officer was laid to rest with full military honours later. An army officer said support for militants was growing in the four districts of south Kashmir.

“They openly roam the villages. Public support for them is worrying security agencies,” he said. Fayaz, who would have turned 23 on June 8, was likely to go to Mhow in September to attend a course for young officers. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has condemned the killing.