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The two SPOs went missing while travelling to an Army post in Kishtwar on Wednesday. Their service weapons were missing, raising suspicion of militant involvement.
File image of J&K SPOs Babi Chand (57) and Rashpal Kumar (45).
The bodies of two Special Police Officers (SPOs), who went missing in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district a day earlier, were recovered with bullet injuries early Thursday, officials said.
Their service weapons, however, were missing, raising suspicions of a possible militant involvement in the incident.
The deceased were identified as Babi Chand (57) and Rashpal Kumar (45), both residents of Kiyar village in the remote Dachhan belt. The two personnel were attached to the Special Operations Group (SOG) of Kishtwar Police and were posted in the Kiyar sector.
According to officials, Chand and Kumar had been assigned rotation duty at the 17 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) Temporary Operating Base (TOB) in the Dharna sector of Marwah. They were travelling from their camp in Kiyar to the Army post on Wednesday but failed to report for duty.
Their disappearance triggered a joint search operation involving the police and Army personnel, with security teams deployed across the mountainous and forested stretches of Dachhan to trace them.
The recovery of their bodies, coupled with the disappearance of their service weapons, has raised concerns over the circumstances surrounding their deaths. Officials said the possibility of a militant angle was being examined.
At A Glance
Two missing Special Police Officers were found dead with bullet injuries in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district.
The service weapons of the deceased officers were missing from the scene.
Terror-related incidents in Kishtwar claimed five lives in 2026, four in 2025, and five in 2024.
The incident comes amid sustained counter-insurgency operations in Kishtwar, where security forces have been working to eliminate the remaining militant presence in the district’s difficult mountainous terrain.
Also Read: Two Special Police Officers Go Missing In J&K’s Kishtwar, Gunshots Heard; Terror Angle Not Ruled Out
The region’s dense forests and remote settlements continue to present challenges for security agencies attempting to track militant movements and conduct search operations.
According to available figures, terror-related incidents in Kishtwar claimed five lives in 2026including four terrorists and an Army soldier. In 2025, four people – three terrorists and one Army soldier – were killed. The toll in 2024 included three security personnel and two civilians.
Earlier, on October 4, Kishtwar Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Sharma had appealed to residents of Marwah, Warwan and Dachhan to cooperate with security agencies and promptly report suspicious activity.
“Marwah, Warwan and Dachhan areas have immense tourism potential, but the presence of active militants remains one of the key reasons restricting tourist movement in the region,” Sharma had said, underlining the importance of maintaining peace and security for tourism and development in the area.
With inputs from PTI
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Ask News18The bullet-riddled bodies of the two missing Special Police Officers, Babi Chand and Rashpal Kumar, were recovered with missing service weapons in Kishtwar’s Dachhan belt, prompting authorities to examine a possible militant angle.
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Prisha is the Chief Sub-Editor at News18.com, with more than 10 years of experience in national and international news. She specialises in editorial leadership, sharp news judgment, and high-impact st…Read More
Srinagar, India, India
November 12, 2026, 09:33 IST
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