IPS officer’s brother joins Hizbul Mujahideen

SRINAGAR: The younger brother of an IPS officer of the northeast cadre joined terrorist outfit Hizbul Mujahideen after disappearing from the Kashmir University campus on May 22 this year, according to a photograph released by the outfit in which he is shown holding an assault rifle and sporting a holstered pistol.

The photograph of the armed Shamsul Haq Mengnoo went viral in J&K after the Hizb released pictures of about a dozen new recruits on social media on Sunday to coincide with the death anniversary of its slain commander, Burhan Wani. Among the photographs of the others is 25-year-old Shamsul Haq Mengnoo of Draggud village, Shopian district. A BUMS (Bachelor of Unani Medicine and Surgery) dropout, Shamsul joined the outfit on May 25 on fleeing from the college campus at Zakura, on the outskirts of Srinagar, a senior police officer said.

Shamsul’s elder brother, Inamul Haq, is a 2012-batch IPS officer posted in the northeast. Shamsul’s parents had filed a missing person report on May 22. The text accompanying the picture says he joined the Hizb on May 25 and his codename, as shown in the picture, is “Burhan Sani”.


Over the past two years, the number of youths becoming militants in Kashmir has grown. Over 50 youths have joined the ranks of militants so far this year.

Meanwhile, clashes were reported from Tral of Pulwama on Sunday, the second death anniversary of slain militant commander Burhan Wani. Reports said dozens of youths tried to march towards Burhan Wani’s native village in Tral, to pay tribute, but security forces fired tear gas shells to disperse them, triggering clashes. The authorities had imposed curfew in Tral since Saturday.

The “Joint Resistance Leadership”, comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik, had called for a Valley-wide shutdown on July 8 to mark Wani’s death anniversary.