Armyman on leave goes missing in south Kashmir’s Kulgam; massive search on

An army soldier on leave has gone missing near his home in south Kashmir’s Kulgam on Saturday evening triggering concern among the family members that he was kidnapped by militants.

The soldier, identified as Javid Ahmad Wani, is a resident of Asthal.

Police and family members said that he left his home in his car on Saturday evening to buy food items as he was to leave for Ladakh on Sunday to join his duties but never returned and his car was found abandoned some distance away from the home.

“He left to buy something at 7:30pm. And then after some time, we found his car with traces of blood. One of his slippers and cap was also there,” said his brother, Mudasir Ahmad Wani.

Javid, a soldier with 3-JAKLI in Ladakh, was on leave for Eid ul Azha since June 29.

Mudasir said that he was to leave home to join his duties on Sunday. “He had asked me to drop him off at Srinagar on Sunday. He had already packed his things,” he said.

The soldier’s disappearance has triggered fear that he might have been kidnapped by militants prompting a massive manhunt by the security forces in Kulgam and other areas.

Kashmir police have also a registered case.

“The searches are going on and we are investigating the abduction angle as well,” said a police officer without confirming whether he was abducted by militants.

Kulgam senior superintendent of police Sahil Sarangal said he was “too busy to share any details about the incident”.

Army spokesperson Lt Col MK Sahu said the army is collecting details about the reported incident.

Meanwhile, the Wani family, with a suspicion of being kidnapped, has released a video on social media appealing for the release of their Javid.

“We seek forgiveness from everybody. Please release him. Even if you want him to leave his army job, he will do it,” they said.

A local of Kulgam said that it seems unlikely that anyone could abduct a young army soldier like Javed unless they had weapons. “Who can abduct such a young army man except militants,” he said.

Last year in March, the Lashker-e-Taiba outfit abducted and killed an army soldier identified as Sameer Ahmad Malla, whose body was found in an orchard in Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam district, police said.

In September 2021, the decomposed body of a Territorial Army (TA) soldier identified as Shakir Manzoor Wagay, who had gone missing in August 2020, was recovered from Kulgam. Rifleman Shakir Manzoor, a resident of Shopian, had gone missing after his car was stopped and then set on fire.