SRI NAGAR: Militants shot dead a youth, who had deserted the army during training in September last year, in a village in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Wednesday. A police official said militants fired at 37-year-old youth Showkat Ahmad Naik outside his home at Pinglina village of Pulwama. Naik received a bullet injury in his head and died on the spot.
Immediately after the incident, police, CRPF and army men rushed to the area and launched a search operation to track down the attackers. However, no arrests were reported. Naik had joined the army last year but deserted during training. Defence spokesman in Srinagar, Colonel Rajesh Kalia said Naik never took oath as a soldier. “He was enrolled on January 15, 2018, in Territorial Army. He went to JAKLI Regimental Center on March 21, 2018,” he said.
Kalia said Naik went on three-day leave on September 14 and never returned. “He was declared a deserter on September 17, 2018,” he said.The spokesman said technically, after being declared a deserter, he is a civilian. DIG of police south Kashmir Atul Goel said that Naik was a civilian. Asked whether he was a former Special Police Officer, he said, “No. He was not”.
Cross-LoC trade suspended
Cross-LoC trade was suspended on Wednesday after Pakistan Army violated ceasefire along the LoC by resorting to unprovoked mortar shelling and small arms firing in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district, officials said