Srinagar: A soldier returning to duty from home after holidays in Chittergul area of south Kashmir's Anantnag district has gone missing, officials said on Sunday.
They said Rifleman Abid Bhat had been spending his holidays at home and was expected to return to his posting at Rangreth, a military camp in Srinagar. However, he failed to report for duty by Saturday.
Concerned by his absence, military officials filed a missing persons complaint with local police, who have since an investigation into the matter.
Mysterious deaths in Jammu & Kashmir's Rajouri: AIIMS Delhi team meets patients, records clinical history"The soldier left his residence in Chittergul on Saturday, but did not arrive at his designated camp as expected," an official confirmed. "A complaint has been registered, and we are actively looking into the situation."
The circumstances surrounding Bhat's disappearance remain unclear. In the past several soldiers on leave have been abducted by militants and later some of them were also killed.
On October 9, 2024, the bullet-ridden body of a Territorial Army (TA) soldier, who had been abducted by terrorists in Anantnag, was found by security forces. This incident marked the latest in a series of abductions involving soldiers in Kashmir.
Earlier, in August 2023, an army soldier went missing from his home in Kulgam district while on leave but was later found by the police. In 2019, another soldier, Yasin Bhat, narrowly escaped a kidnapping attempt at his home in Qazipora, Budgam.
Over the past nine years, more than five soldiers have been abducted and killed in various parts of Kashmir, with the majority of incidents occurring in the Shopian and Kulgam districts of south Kashmir. Notably, one case was also reported from Budgam in 2022. These recurring incidents highlight the ongoing security challenges faced by local military personnel in Kashmir.