SRINAGAR: A policeman in Kashmir murdered his Pandit colleague, who has been missing since May 14, as a revenge for allegedly sodomising him, a senior police officer said Thursday.
“The Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by police to probe missing of Constable Sameer Ji Kumar solved the case by arresting a Special Police Officer (SPO), who had murdered him,” Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of police, central Kashmir range, Ghulam Hassan Bhat, told media.
Constable Sameer Kumar had gone missing on May 14 and police had formed a SIT to track him.
Bhat said during investigation, the SPO identified as Ajaz Ahmad, who was last seen with constable Sameer before him going missing, confessed during sustained questioning that during their visit to Pahalgam on May 14 night, he (Constable Sameer) had resorted to un-natural sexual act (sodomy) with him.
The SPO told his interrogators that Constable Sameer after sodomising him had threatened that he will disclose it to their colleagues.
“In order to protect himself from social stigma he killed Constable Sameer,” the DIG said.
Giving sequence of events, DIG said constable Kumar and SPO Aijaz, who was his friend, left Pahalgan on May 13 after procuring three liquor bottles from Batwara area of Srinagar.
After reaching Pahalgam at about 3 am on May 14, they parked the maruti car near a roadside and consumed liquor along with some cannabis and decided to stay in the car for the night, Bhat said.
He said SPO told the interrogation that at Pahalgam, Sameer had resorted to unnatural sex with him.
The DIG said the next morning they went to GO’s Mess Pahalgam, where they met Sameer’s uncle Dileep Kumar, a head constable.
“The three left for Kupwara as Dileep was transferred there from Anantnag. They reached Kupwara District Police Lines at 3 pm and dropped Dileep there and started back towards Srinagar,” he said.
According to DIG, when Aijaz and Sameer reached Yunsu bridge in Handwara area of Kupwara, the SPO stopped the vehicle and both of them alighted from it.
“The SPO picked up a stone and hit Sameer on right side of face/head with it. He then disposed off Sameer’s body in river Puhroo near Kachri Kultoora after driving there,” he said.
The DIG said he then washed his vehicle with his shirt.
“On his disclosure, the stone with which he had murdered the police constable, his shirt, trouser and the car in which they had travelled have been seized and sent for forensic examination.
The DIG said efforts are on to trace Samee’s body.
He said Indian Navy’s Marcos commandos have been pressed into service to retrieve body of the constable from the river. “However, it could not be traced yet. Efforts to trace the body are on,” he said.