Mystery of missing forest guard solved with discovery of his corpse by army

Mystery of missing forest guard solved with discovery of his corpse by army
PRADEEP DUTTA

JAMMU, OCT 2: The mystery behind the disappearance of Gulzar Hussain, a forest guard, was solved today afternoon when troops recovered his mutilated body from the Kangri forest area in Bhimber Gali in Poonch district during routine patrolling.

With gouged-out eyes, chopped limbs and cut nose, the body of Hussain was lying under the tree when army jawans spotted it. The body was recovered 26 hours after the massacre of his five family-members, including his wife and three minor children, in Nar village in Poonch district at 1.30 pm, last night.

Sources said that when security forces reached the massacre site the morning after the incident happened, they got suspicious when they could not find Hussain's body, either among the dead or the injured. Even after repeated inquiries from his injured daughter and son, the police could not get any clue about his whereabouts. This led troops to conduct a search operation to unravel the mystery behind Hussain's disappearance.

Inspector-General of Police, Jammu Zone, R V Raju, told this correspondent yesterday evening that Hussain was the main target of militants, as he in the past had helped the Army in several operations. ``But we are yet to trace him,'' he said.

Various stories were already making the rounds when Hussain was found absent from his residence at the time of the massacre. One was that Hussain had crossed over to Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) along with the militants. Another story claimed that Hussain was involved in the massacre. But the story that had gained momentum was that Hussain, for the past two months had not turned up at his residence and was staying with a woman in the adjoining village. And he had himself sent militants to kill his wife, who was against the relationship.

But all these ``speculative'' stories died a natural death today afternoon with the recovery of his body. The senior police officer informed that preliminary investigations reveal that Hussain was abducted by the militants the same evening while he was returning home. ``Later, three armed men from the same group had gone to his place and asked the family-members to give their elder son, Tariq for jehad

. And when they prevented them from taking Tariq, the enraged militants sprayed bullets on them, killing five of them and injuring two others,'' said Pankaj Saxena, Senior Superintendent of Police Poonch.

Regarding the condition of the body, Saxena said it appears that Hussain was tortured to death. ``The eyes are gouged out, nose cut and limbs chopped off,'' informed Saxena.

Meanwhile, security forces have launched a massive operation in Mendhar area to apprehend the militants who are behind the killings.

Ram Lubhaya, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Rajouri-Poonch said unlike earlier days, the villagers are not welcoming militants. And this has frustrated militants to the extent that they have started terrorising people by killing their family members or torturing them.