SSP, SHO shifted in rifle loot case

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, January 1

The axe has fallen on top police officers after militants decamped with four rifles from a Congress leader’s house in the city. The J&K Police have attached the Senior Superintendent of Police (Security) to the security headquarters and shifted a Station House Officer besides dismissing four policemen after militants posing as electricians stole the weapons.

Militants looted the four rifles from the official residence of Congress Member of Legislative Council Muzaffar Parray in the Jawahar Nagar locality here on Sunday. The weapons belonged to the four personal security officers (PSOs) of the legislator.

“Maqsood-ul-Zaman, SSP (Security) Kashmir, is hereby attached to the security headquarters with immediate effect,” Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh said in an order. Senior Superintendent of Police Sajad Hussain, Commandant of the 3rd Battalion of Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police, has been given the additional charge of SSP (Security) Kashmir till further orders, the DGP said.

The SHO, Raj Bagh police station, Ayaz Geelani, in whose area the weapon loot took place, has also been shifted.

The investigation into the looting incident found that militants posed as electricians to gain access to the residence of Parray, who was in Jammu. The role of a policeman, who was formerly deployed as PSO with Parray, has also come under the scanner.

Sources privy to the investigation said the former PSO had visited Parray’s residence. “After he found only one PSO at the residence, he hurriedly left. Soon, two or three men knocked on the door and told the PSO that they were electricians and had come to fix something. One of them took out a pistol and asked the PSO to hand over the weapons,” a police officer privy to the investigation said. “The former PSO who visited the residence before the snatching is missing.”

No militant group has so far claimed responsibility. The investigators have also found that the Congress leader “misled” the department by informing it that the PSOs were with him (in Jammu). As per procedure, a protected person has to submit the attendance record of the PSOs to the police for the release of their salaries. The PSOs along with their weapons should be with the protected person. In this case, Parray’s three PSOs were absent and had left their weapons behind at his Srinagar residence. The four PSOs were dismissed from service on Monday for dereliction of duty and unauthorised absence.

Role of ex-PSO under scanner 

The role of a policeman, who was formerly deployed as PSO with Parray, has also come under the scanner. He had visited the MLC Muzaffar Parray's residence and upon finding only one PSO there, he had hurriedly left. Soon thereafter, militants posing as electricians entered the house. The PSO concerned has been missing since then.