Jammu and Kashmir: Decorated police officer caught with three terrorists in Kulgam

A top Jammu and Kashmir Police officer has been detained by the security forces during an anti-militancy operation in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district along with three terrorists at a checkpoint which was erected in the area after a specific input.

The arrest of the officer, who was deployed with the anti-hijacking unit at the Srinagar International Airport, has shocked the security forces operating in the valley as the officer was involved in several anti-terrorism operations in the militancy-hit Jammu and Kashmir in the past.

Sources have told WION that Deputy Superintendent of Police Devinder Singh, along with top Hizbul commander Naveed Ahmad Shah alias Naveed Babu and three terrorists, were travelling in a car which was possibly on its way to the Jammu region. 

The operation was monitored and supervised by the Deputy Inspector General of Police, South Kashmir range Atul Goyal along with other officers. 

Sources in the police say that Naveed’s phone call was traced by the officials which indicated that he was moving to Jammu. The security forces then laid checkpoints in several parts of south Kashmir.

All those arrested were taken to a police station where separate interrogations of the officer and the terrorists were held. If sources are to be believed, the DSP has claimed that he was attempting to convince terrorists to surrender.

Following the arrests, the security forces carried out raids at the two residences of the cop - one at Indra Nagar in Srinagar and the other one at Tral in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. Three AK-47 assault rifles and five grenades were recovered from the sites. 

Sources privy to the information say that two FIRs have been registered till now. The DSP has also been booked under section 19 in FIR number 5/2020.

What is more shocking is that Devinder had bagged the prestigious President's Police Medal on the Independence Day last year. Singh was recruited as a police sub-inspector and with time rose to the ranks to become the DSP rank officer. 

The officer was among the first to join the counter-insurgency group in Kashmir, commonly known as Special Operation Group after he was appointed to the team. He was later removed from the group on the grounds of extortion. A high ranking officer told WION that he was attached on different occasions after complaints against him were received.

Devinder was seen posing in a picture with a group of foreign envoys who visited Kashmir on an official tour to get a first-hand account of how things have changed since August 5 when J&K special status was revoked. 

In a letter written by the parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru - which was made public by the family of Guru - he alleged Singh of torturing him at a special task force camp and forcing him to take a Parliament attack co-accused to New Delhi. 

Singh was among the officers who had arrested Afzal Guru after his name emerged in the investigation regarding the 2001 Indian parliament attack. 

But apart from Singh, the arrest of Syed Naveed Shah alias Naveed Babu  - who has been instrumental in several attacks on security forces - was also held. Naveed, a policeman-turned terrorist deserted the police ranks to join the terrorist in 2017 and was involved in several attacks on security forces and crimes in south Kashmir. 

The top Hizbul commander was handling Hizbul Mujahideen operations in the south and central Kashmir from the last few months. Police had also pointed at his role in the killing of non-local civilians and setting an apple laden truck following the abrogation of J&K special status.