Even though India and Pakistan agreed to implement the 2003 ceasefire agreement in "letter and spirit," the state of Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed several instances of violations in the last few days that even resulted in a few deaths. Amid these issues, residents of the state joining terror groups have added to the woes of authorities.
One such resident seems to be Shams-Ul-Haq Mengnoo and he is suspected to have joined one of the terror groups active in the region, reported NDTV. Outfits like ISIS-Kashmir and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind are known to have hired quite a few youths in J&K and Shams could be one of them. Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind is a group which claims the support of the Al-Qaeda.
The police have now said that if Shams has indeed joined any terror group, the force will make all efforts to bring him back.
Who is Shams-Ul-Haq Mengnoo?
- Shams is the brother of IPS officer Inam Ul-Haq-Mengnoo, who is serving outside the J&K cadre.
- He is said to be a resident of the Dragud village of the Shopian district.
- Shams is pursuing his studies in Unani medicine and surgery (BUMS) in a government college, situated in the outskirts of Srinagar.
- He has been missing since May 26.
- However, his family is yet to approach the police.
Meanwhile, an unnamed police officer told News18 that a preliminary investigation has been initiated and that a missing complaint is awaited from the family.
Scores of youths are known to have joined militant groups and most of these youngsters are said to be from the Shopian and Pulwama districts in South Kashmir. Just in May 2018, at least 20 youths are said to have joined militant outfits and the officials told NDTV that the year 2018 may just end up seeing the highest number of recruitments.
Until now, the year 2016 showed the highest recruitment with figures standing at 88.
Another name that made headlines for joining a terror outfit was Mohammed Rafi Bhat, a PhD scholar and an assistant professor in the Kashmir University, who joined Hizbul Mujahideen on Friday, May 4.
He was involved in the encounter on May 6, and before being gunned down by security forces, he is said to have called his father Fayaz Ahmed Bhat and apologized.
"I am sorry if I have hurt you and this is my last call as I am going to meet Allah," the Times of India quoted Rafi as telling his father.
The police were reportedly monitoring all the calls and when they found out that Rafi had called his father, they got in touch with the militant's family and asked them to convince him to surrender.
While the family agreed and left home to reach the encounter site, they couldn't make it as Rafi had already been killed by then.
