The fate of a missing Territorial Army soldier hailing from south Kashmir’s Shopian district suspected to have been abducted and killed by militants last year was not fully known yet, said the Director General of Police J&K, Dilbag Singh on Saturday.
Rifleman, Shakir Manzoor of 162 Battalion (TA) hailing from Harmain village of Shopian, went missing on the evening of August 2 near Kulgam where his burnt car was found abandoned.
Army had suspected that the soldier was abducted by militants.
On Saturday, DGP Dilbag Singh hinted that Shakir might have been killed by the abductors and the whereabouts of his body were not yet known.
“So far, where he was buried after being killed and what his fate is, is not fully known yet,” Singh, who was speaking to the media at the inaugural ceremony of a cricket tournament, said in reply to a question about the missing rifleman.
The DGP said that local police are trying their best to solve the puzzle and any breakthrough in the case, will be shared with the missing rifleman’s family.
With regard to the cricket tournament organized by police, the DGP said with the improvement in weather, it was “time to promote sports activities”.
He said police are planning to scale up sports activities in J&K even as the current rise in COVID-19 cases will be given due consideration in terms of the required SOPs.