A Special Police Officer guarding the residence of Peoples Democratic Party MLA Aijaz Ahmad Mir in Jawahar Nagar area of Srinagar decamped with at least nine weapons on Friday. Aadil Bashir, a native of Zainpora village of Shopian, had been employed as a Special Police Officer last year, Kashmir Reader reported.

“SPO Adil Bashir today [Friday] evening decamped with the service weapons including seven AK-rifles, one INSAS and one pistol from the guard room at J-11, Government Quarters, Jawahar Nagar,” a senior police officer told GNS news agency.

The officer said that apart from a departmental inquiry, a case has also been registered against Bashir. An alert has been sounded across the Kashmir Valley to track down Bashir.

Several Special Police Officers had quit the Jammu and Kashmir Police after militants kidnapped and murdered three policemen in Shopian on September 21. On Thursday, the Centre announced increases in the honorariums to the SPOs.