Jammu & Kashmir: Soldier flees Army camp with his service rifle and ammunition
Officials suspect Sepoy Zahoor Ahmad Thokar may have joined the Hizbul Mujahideen, reports said.
A soldier with the 173 Battalion of the Territorial Army is believed to have decamped with his service rifle – an AK-47 – and ammunition from his Gantmulla area camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla, PTI reported on Thursday.
The jawan has been identified as Sepoy Zahoor Ahmad Thokar, a resident of Pulwama’s Sirnoo area. “Thokar deserted the Army on the intervening night of July 5 and July 6,” an unidentified official told The Hindu. “He ran away with his service assault rifle and three magazines.”
J&K: Territorial Army jawan Zahoor Thakur missing with a AK-47 from his camp in Baramulla's Gantmulla, Police has begun an investigation. pic.twitter.com/RMg928TNeF
— ANI (@ANI_news) July 6, 2017
The Army has launched a manhunt to find the soldier, and the Jammu and Kashmir Police have issued an alert to all check posts in the Valley.
Officials suspect that Thokar may have joined the militancy, reports said. They have doubts that he may have joined the Hizbul Mujahideen, according to India Today.
The news comes days before the first death anniversary of former Hizbul chief Burhan Wani on July 8.