'Deserter' cop arrested in Kashmir

Police has arrested the "deserter" cop who had fled along with an AK-47 rifle of his colleague two days back, suspectedly to join militant ranks.
Reyaz Ahmad, who was working as a Follower in the police, was arrested from Khansahib area of Budgam district late last night, a police official said.
Reyaz was posted at Rainawari Police Station in old Srinagar city but he stopped reporting for work since Friday last.
A service rifle of one of the constables at the police station was also missing, triggering alarm in the police which suspected that he had deserted the force to join militant ranks.

Subsequently, police launched a manhunt to track him down.
This was the third incident of a cop deserting the force with official weapons in the past few months.

Last month, a policeman posted with SDPO Bijbehara decamped with four rifles from a police establishment in the south Kashmir Anantnag district and joined the militants ranks.
While police has recovered the three of the rifles from the cop's accomplices, the deserter is still on the run.
In October last year, a PSO of then Minister for Roads and Buildings Altaf Bukhari decamped with his service rifles to join the militants.