SPO killed in Jammu had raised concerns over deployment, locals tell police

Special Police Officer Bobby Chand, along with his nephew Rachpal Kumar, was killed in the Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district. Chand had concerns about being deployed weekly at a Temporary Operational Base (TOB) of the Rashtriya Rifles in Dharna village and had raised questions about his deployment outside the jurisdiction of his posting.

The bodies of the two men were discovered in Marwah tehsil on Thursday, just under 24 hours after they went missing. According to locals, the SPOs were posted at a Special Operations Group (SOG) post in Kiyar under the Dachhan tehsil. The SOG post comprised four individuals, and a weekly roster had been prepared by a senior police officer in Kishtwar, instructing two personnel at a time to join RR personnel at the Dharna TOB in Marwah tehsil.

The Kiyar village lacks mobile phone connectivity and is considered a "shadow zone." On Saturday, the Jammu Inspector General of Police (IGP), Tejinder Singh, and senior police officers from Kishtwar visited the families of the deceased in Kiyar. The IGP was accompanied by DIG Ramban, Doda, and Kishtwar SSP Sunny Gupta. Villagers informed the officers that when the two SPOs returned from a week-long duty at the Dharna TOB, they encountered some locals in the forests who asked them about their identities and replacements.

The SPOs did not suspect anything, as the individuals resembled locals. The SPOs reached Dharna village around 3 pm after lunch and proceeded towards a mountain ridge where the RR had set up their TOB. They were reportedly walking ahead of about half a dozen civilians carrying rations on ponies for RR personnel. During the journey, they were attacked.

The ponywallas escaped to safety and reported the incident to the Dharna village police post, while the SPOs, who had weapons, went missing. Rachpal's cousin, Ajay Parihar, revealed that Chand narrowly escaped an attack in 2000 when militants in Army uniform killed eight members of the village defence committee in Kiyar. Kishtwar MLA Shagun Parihar, a BJP member, demanded an inquiry and action against the officer responsible for the roster.

She questioned the DIG, Sargun Shukla, for her tardy arrival following the killings and accused her of acting at the Lt Governor's behest. Leader of the Opposition, Sunil Sharma, also criticized the senior police officers, expressing disbelief at the poor operational strategy employed.