The whereabouts of an Indian Army jawan,who went missing late Sunday evening from near Kulgam, could not be traced in the last 24 hours by the joint teams of security forces combing the area inch by inch across South Kashmir districts.
He was currently visiting home on account of Eid holidays.
The day-long searches conducted in the South Kashmir belt of Kulgam, Shopian and Anantnag could not yield desired results.Meanwhile, the family members had issued a passionate appeal to the suspected abductors to release their son without causing any harm to him.
According to a statement issued by the Indian Army, “Rifleman Shakir Manzoor of 162 Battalion (TA), is missing since 17:00hrs yesterday. His abandoned burnt car has been found near Kulgam. It is suspected that the soldier has been abducted by terrorists. Search op in progress”.
The burnt car, which belonged to Manzoor, was found from Rambhama area of neighbouring Kulgam district.
In May 2017, a young, unarmed army officer was kidnapped by terrorists when he was attending a family wedding in Shopian. The bullet-riddled body of Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz was recovered the next day 30 km from the wedding venue.
The 22-year-old had joined the Rajputana Rifles five months before. He was believed to be the first Kashmiri officer to be murdered while on leave in his home state since 1991.
In June 2018, another soldier Aurangzeb, who went home to Poonch for Eid, was abducted and killed.