Cop goes missing with AK-47 in Kashmir

A cop of Jammu and Kashmir Police has gone missing along with an AK-47 rifle from a police station in southern Shopian district on Saturday.

Sources said special police officer (SPO) Irfan Ahmad Dar has been missing and has taken AK-47 rifle of another policeman from the police station. The missing SPO, they said, is a resident of the militancy-infested Hermain village of Shopian.

A police officer while confirming the incident said, “A case under relevant sections of law has been registered and further investigations is on.”

Following the incident, he said, police have sounded an alert across the south Kashmir and launched a hunt to nab the fleeing SPO.

SPOs are recruited by the police on a fixed monthly remuneration of Rs 6,000. The wages of SPOs are given by the state government and reimbursed by the Centre under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme. The police maintain SPOs are an important element in their strategy to combat militancy.

Sources said the SPO might have joined militants like several other policemen who ran away along with service rifles in the last three years.