Missing Ph.D Scholar Has Joined Hizbul, Won’t Arrest If Family Brings Him Back: J&K Police

Last year, 49 youth from different parts of the valley had joined various militant outfits, and 30 among them have been killed till now.

Hilal Ahmed, who is pursuing PhD from Kashmir University, had gone missing on June 13. (Image: Twitter/@Aazrakhan)

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Police has claimed that the missing PhD scholar from Bemina area of Srinagar has joined Hizbul Mujahideen, indicating to the new trend of educated youth joining militancy making a comeback. The youth has been identified as Hilal Ahmed of Srinagar. After the killing of Prof Rafi and PhD scholar Mannan Wani, this is the third PhD student who has joined Hizbul Mujahideen. However, police are still soft on his joining, and has assured the family that he will not be arrested if his family persuaded him to come back. Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Vijay Kumar while confirming the joining said that “Yes, as per our reports, Hilal Ahmed, a Ph.D scholar from Bemina area of Srinagar has joined Hizbul Mujahideen outfit. If his family brings him back, we will not arrest him.” Hilal, who is pursuing PhD from Kashmir University, had gone missing on June 13, during a trekking trip along with his five friends. The group had gone to the Naranag area of Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district, and during the trip he left his friends mid way on the pretext of bad health. While the friends continued the threk, they could not find him at the designated spot on return. All his five friends returned home on the same evening except Hilal. There has been no information about Hilal since then. His family members had been moving from pillar to post besides staging protests that their son should be brought back. Only yesterday, his family members had urged the LG led administration and other security agencies to bring their son back for the sake of humanity. Sources say that Hilal was a close friend of slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Junaid Sehrai, who was killed in an encounter at Nawa Kadal area of Srinagar’s old city and must have got attracted towards joining militancy after Sehrai’s killing. However, police sources said that Hilal’s family would be urged to make appeals to their son to return home. Last year, 49 youth from different parts of the valley had joined various militant outfits, and 30 among them have been killed till now. Recently, army and police had urged youth to lay down arms and return to normal life but Hilal's case seems quite contrary and damming one. The worry is not one more youth has picked up the gun, said a senior police official, adding that the worry is his highly educated background, an avid debator and TV panelist - he has the capacity of being a "role model" but in the negative way.