The missing personnel have been identified as Babi Chand (57) and Rashpal Kumar (45), both of whom were posted with the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the local police at their Kiyar village of Dachhan, reports said.

The SPOs were travelling from Kiyar camp to an Army post at Dharna-Marwah when they failed to reach their destination. Their mobile phones were initially reachable but were switched off later, raising concerns about their whereabouts.

Following their disappearance, a massive search operation was launched jointly by the police and the Army's Rashtriya Rifles to locate the missing personnel.

Security teams were deployed in the surrounding areas, including difficult and mountainous forest terrain, to establish their whereabouts and ascertain the circumstances surrounding their disappearance, the reports said.

They said it would be premature to link the incident to any militant activity until the facts emerge. However, the disappearance has drawn attention to the security situation in the mountainous district, which has witnessed a series of terror-related incidents over the past several years, the officials said.

Kishtwar has remained a focus of security operations to eliminate the remaining terrorists present in its remote and forested areas. Successive counter-insurgency operations have resulted in the killing of several active terrorists, significantly weakening their presence in the district.

Nevertheless, the difficult terrain and vast forested stretches continue to pose operational challenges for security agencies, the officials said.

The district has witnessed casualties among both security personnel and terrorists in recent years. According to the figures available, five people, including four terrorists and an Army braveheart, were killed in terror-related incidents in 2026. In 2025, the toll stood at four, comprising three terrorists and one Army soldier. In 2024, three security personnel and two civilians lost their lives.

The latest incident comes against the backdrop of repeated appeals by the district administration and security agencies for greater public cooperation in tackling terrorism and ensuring lasting peace in the region.