Two SPOs flee with weapons in Jammu & Kashmir

A massive manhunt was launched on Tuesday to trace two former militants-turned-special police officers (SPOs) who deserted duties and fled with their service weapons in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district.

According to police, the two former Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants had been engaged as SPOs after they surrendered. On Tuesday, they deserted duties and fled with their service weapons.

"An SPO identified as Riaz Ahmed, son of Abdul Rashid resident of Marmat (Doda) former LeT militant, who had surrendered in 1999, deserted duties and fled with one AK-47 rifle and three magazines from Doda district.

"Another former LeT militant Ghulam Muhammad, a resident of Shah Mohalla (Srinagar), who had surrendered in 2010 and later engaged as SPO also fled from duties in Doda along with one INSAS rifle and three magazines," a senior police official told IANS here.

The SPOs are engaged in Jammu and Kashmir on a consolidated monthly package of Rs.3,000 by the state police to fight militancy.

The engaged SPOs also include former militants, who surrender to the security forces and then engaged to fight militancy in the state.