‘Deserter’ cop held in Kashmir

A “deserter” cop, who had fled along with an AK-47 rifle of his colleague two days ago, suspectedly to join militant ranks was arrested late Sunday night. The cop has been identified as Reyaz Ahmad, who was working as a Follower in the police. He was arrested from the Khansahib area of Budgam district, a police official said.

Reyaz was posted at Rainawari Police Station in old Srinagar but he stopped reporting for work since last Friday. A service rifle of one of the constables at the police station was missing, triggering alarm in the police, which suspected that he had deserted the force to join militant ranks. Subsequently, police launched a manhunt to track him down. This was the third incident of a cop deserting the force with official weapons in the past few months.