Body of soldier found one year after militants abducted him in Kashmir

A decomposed body found on Wednesday in a village of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district has been identified as that of a missing rifleman of 162 Battalion of Territorial Army, the family of the slain soldier said.

Shakir Manzoor, a rifleman with the 162 Battalion of Territorial Army (TA) was abducted by militants on August 2 last year when he was travelling between the Balpora and Bahibagh army camps in the southern Shopian district.

Hours later that day, his burnt vehicle was recovered from a field in the neighbouring Kulgam district. And a week later, his family found his blood-stained clothes in a nearby orchard. However, despite the hectic efforts of the police, Army and Manzoor’s family, his body couldn’t be located.

On Wednesday a decomposed male body was found near BSNL tower in Mohamad Pora village of Kulgam. The body was taken into possession by the police for identification. The police said the body is beyond recognition and requires a DNA test.

However, a police official said after the body was found, the father of the missing TA soldier claimed it is of his son. Manzoor Ahmad Wagey, the father of the missing TA soldier, told reporters in Kulgam that he has identified the body and it is his son’s.

A few days after Manzoor’s abduction last year, an unverified audio clip went viral on social media in which a militant who identified himself as Abu Talha took responsibility for his death. The voice in the clip sought to justify Manzoor’s killing – and the decision to bury his body at an undisclosed location.

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