Kishtwar SPOs Killed: Officials on Thursday said bullet-riddled bodies of two missing Special Police Officers (SPOs) have been recovered from Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district. The service weapons of the slain personnel were not found, raising suspicions of a possible militant angle, the officials said.
The development came a day after the Special Police Officers went missing from the higher reaches of Dachhan in Kishtwar district.
Following their disappearance, the security forces had launched a massive joint search operation to trace them. The missing personnel were identified as Babi Chand (57) and Rashpal Kumar (45). They were posted with the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the local police at their Kiyar village in Dachhan.
Kishtwar MLA Slams Pakistan
Reacting to the killing of the two cops, BJP MLA from Kishtwar, Shagun Parihar, slammed Pakistan, saying Pakistan continues to persist with its nefarious conspiracies. We urge the Home Minister to ensure that those responsible for the deaths of these two SPOs are held to account immediately, she added.
"A truly tragic incident has occurred. Two of our SPOs have been killed. They had been reported missing last night, and their bodies were recovered this morning. One body was found around 8 am, and the second was recovered around 9 am It is deeply tragic. Pakistan continues to persist with its nefarious conspiracies. We demand that, for these two lives, a response of fourfold magnitude be given. I am leaving for the area shortly," she added.
Earlier, the security forces had rushed reinforcements and widened the search for the SPOs across the forested upper reaches of Dachhan in Kishtwar district for the second consecutive day on Thursday. Specialised teams equipped with drones and sniffer dogs were deployed across the forested stretches and difficult mountainous terrain.
They went missing on Wednesday while travelling from their camp to an Army post at Dharna-Marwah. Their mobile phones were initially reachable but were later switched off.
Additional police and Army personnel were deployed to intensify the search, with multiple teams fanning out across the vast forested stretches and difficult mountainous terrain.
They said all possible angles were being examined to ascertain the circumstances surrounding their killings.
Kishtwar has remained a focus of counter-insurgency operations, with security forces continuing efforts to eliminate the remaining terrorist presence 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.
According to the figures available, five people, including four terrorists and one Army soldier, 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.
(With PTI Inputs)