Kashmir: Third man from security forces joins militants this year

A Jammu and Kashmir police constable is suspected to have joined the Lashkar-e-Taiba after a photograph of him posing with an AK-47 went viral on social media.

This could be the third such switch -- personnel from the security forces joining the militants -- made this year.

Ishfaq Ahmad Dar, who was posted at the Police Training Centre in Kathua, was reported missing after he failed to return from leave on Monday.

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When he did not show up at Kathua, news reports said, his family filed a missing person's complaint.

A little later, the photograph of him posing with an AK-47 surfaced.

“There are reports, we are trying to confirm. The matter is being investigated,” the Hindustan Times quoted Kashmir's Director General of Police SP Vaid as saying.

The Hindustan Times, quoting sources, added that a number of people in Dar’s family, including his brother, were policemen.

The Hindustan Times added that in May this year, a constable from Shopian, Syed Naveed Mushtaq, decamped with four service rifles and joined the Hizbul Mujahideen.

And that two months later, Zahoor Ahmad Thokar — who was with the 173 Territorial Army Engineering regiment at Baramulla — deserted his unit and joined the militants, taking with him his service AK-47 rifle and three magazines.