Missing SPO joins Hizbul

Srinagar, June 27 (IANS) A special police officer (SPO) who went missing from Pampore police station in Jammu and Kashmir with an AK-47 rifle, has joined the Hizbul Mujahideen, the militant group said.

Hizb spokesman Burhan-u-Din called a local news agency and claimed that Irfan Ahmad Dar had joined the group.

"SPO Irfan Ahmad Dar, a resident of Nehama Kakapora of Pulwama district, who fled with his rifle, has joined Hizb-ul-Mujahideen," the spokesman said.

Dar went missing on Tuesday from Pampore police station along with the AK-47 rifle. Police said earlier that a hunt had been launched to trace him.

SPOs are engaged on a fixed monthly packet in Jammu and Kashmir to fight militancy. They are neither trained in handling firearms nor are they issued service weapons.

(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)