NEW DELHI: An Indian police officer decorated with the President’s medal for bravery was caught with two alleged fighters of the Hizbul Mujah­ideen while travelling suspiciously in a vehicle on the Srinagar-Jammu highway on Saturday. The alleged Hizbul men were on their way to New Delhi, NDTV said, quoting police sources.

The report said Davinder Singh, a deputy superintendent of police, was posted at the sensitive Srinagar international airport. He was caught at Kulgam district’s Wanpoh area with Naveed Babu, alleged to be a fighter of Hizbul Mujahideen. According to the TV channel, Babu is an accused in the killing of 11 non-local workers in the southern region of Kashmir in October and November.

“The series of killings were carried out to drive non-locals out of Kashmir and target the apple industry after the scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status by the central government in August,” NDTV said.

Police sources said they had been tracking Naveed Babu’s movements for some time and were able to trace his location after he made a phone call to his brother.

The police intercepted a vehicle in which the alleged Hizbul man was travelling with an accomplice, named Asif. With Davinder Singh they were all traveling to Wanpoh. The report described Babu as a former “special police official”, a Kashmiri phrase for militants who collude with the state after surrender. Davinder Singh was awarded the President’s Police Medal for gallantry on August 15 last year.

After the arrest and interrogation of Davinder Singh and Naveed Babu, police carried out multiple raids in Srinagar and southern Kashmir and recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition stashed by Singh and “other terrorists”, the report said.

At Davinder Singh’s home in Srinagar’s Badami Bagh cantonment, police recovered an AK-47 rifle and two pistols. Another AK rifle and a pistol were recovered based on Naveed Babu’s confession.

Police sources said investigations were underway to find out why the alleged Hizb fighters were going to Delhi with the help of a police officer.

Sources say Davinder Singh was abs­ent from duty on Saturday and had applied for four days’ leave from Sunday.

Davinder Singh had shot into spotlight after a letter written by Afzal Guru, the parliament attack convict hanged in 2013, claimed the officer had asked him to accompany a man accused in the case to Delhi and arrange his stay there, NDTV said.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2020