Police recover victims’ belongings

Srinagar, Mar 12: Jammu and Kashmir Police have stepped up their investigation into the recent killings of three civilians in Kathua, recovering several belongings of the victims, offi-cials confirmed on Wednesday.
SSP Kathua, Shobhit Saxena, told Rising Kashmir that they have recovered several personal be-longings of the victims from a location above the waterfall where the bodies were found on March 8.
“We retrieved a bag, an undershirt, a jacket, a mobile phone, and cash scattered around 20-30 feet from the precipice,” Saxena said.
The post-mortem report is still awaited, which will help ascertain the exact time of the killings. Meanwhile, security forces have extended the cordon to higher altitudes and intensified search operations in the forested areas.
An official source added that initial investigations suggest that the terrorists fled immediately after the attack, using pre-planned exit routes and shifting to another sector. Security forces are now focusing on tracking the suspects and securing the affected areas.
In the aftermath of the three civilian killings in Malhar, the SHO of the concerned police station was changed. PSI Arun Kumar Shan (EXJ196433) has been transferred from Police Station Bani to Police Station Malhar, where he will assume the role of SHO. Additionally, ASI Rajesh Ku-mar (EXJ962392) has been transferred from DPL Kathua to the Special Anti-Drug Squad in Kathua.
The bodies of three victims, identified as 15-year-old Varun Singh from Dehota, his 32-year-old uncle Yogesh Singh, and 40-year-old maternal uncle Darshan Singh, were recovered on March 8 near a waterfall in Ishu Nallah, Malhar, three days after they had gone missing during a family wedding. The bodies were located through a joint search operation by the police and the Army, utilizing drones.
Earlier, on February 16, the bodies of two villagers, Shamsher (37) and Roshan (45), were dis-covered in Kohag village, Billawar. Postmortem results confirmed they had been strangled to death.
Meanwhile, two children from a nomadic community in Kathua district have gone missing under mysterious circumstances, prompting an investigation by the police.
According to the police, 15-year-old Deen alias Dinu, son of Swaru from Hardo Muthi, Rajbagh, left his home on February 27 to stay with his sister in Panwarwan village, Marheen, about two kilometers away. The next day, he took his 12-year-old nephew, Rehmat Ali, son of Makhan Din, to attend a marriage function in their village.
“On the same day, the children went cattle grazing around noon and have been missing since,” an official stated.
After days of searching in Punjab, Jammu, Udhampur, and various parts of Kathua, the families of the missing children led by Swaru and Makhan Din filed a missing persons report at Rajbagh Police Station. Based on their complaint, a case (FIR No. 51/2025 under Section 137(2) of the BNS) has been registered, and an investigation is underway.
DIG JKS Range, Shiv Kumar Sharma, visited Rajbagh and Marheen, where he met with the fam-ilies of the missing boys and assured them that every effort was being made to trace them. He also directed the police to coordinate with the boys’ relatives in Punjab, Jammu, and Udhampur, and to form teams for further investigation. Additionally, he instructed the police to circulate the children’s photos widely to generate leads.
Mohammad Saleem, of Rajbagh Police Station, confirmed that they had released posters of the missing boys and were hopeful of locating them soon.
According to police records, 15-year-old Mohd Deen, also known as Dinu, went missing from Bhamberwan near the Goat Farm in Marheen. He has a wheatish complexion, stands at 4’8″, and was last seen wearing a dhoti-kurta. Along with him, 12-year-old Rehmat Ali, also known as Mushtaq, from Karandi Kalan, Bhamberwan, has been missing since the same location. Rehmat Ali has a wheatish complexion, stands at 4’2″, and was last seen wearing a pajama-shirt.
The police have urged the public to provide any information that might help in locating the miss-ing children.