The case of the missing Kashmiri soldier who has now been found by J&K police

The army personnel who went missing from his native in the southern Kashmir district last week has been found, police said on Thursday.Rifleman Javaid Ahmad Wani (25), who was posted in Ladakh, went missing on Saturday from Kulgam district while he was on leave.The news of his disappearance had raised tensions among his family members who thought terrorists would have kidnapped him, as they had done with other Indian Army soldiers from Jammu and Kashmir in the past.Let's take a closer look.Army jawan found to be interrogatedA top Jammu and Kashmir Police officer on Thursday confirmed the soldier's whereabouts on X.com (formerly Twitter).Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) of Kashmir Vijay Kumar tweeted, “Missing Army jawan has been recovered by Kulgam Police. Joint interrogation will start shortly after a medical checkup. Further details shall follow."Further information about who kidnapped him or where he was found is yet to be known.Also read: J&K: NIA raids nine locations in NGOs terror funding caseAbducted while grocery shoppingWani, a JAKLI member, reportedly went missing on 29 July while he was shopping for groceries in a city close to his house. According to Hindustan Times, he drove away from his home in Asthal to get some groceries as he was set to leave for Ladakh the following day to resume his duties.As time passed and he didn't come home, the family started to worry. An hour later, security personnel in Kulgam's Paranhall village found the car he was travelling in with its doors open. In the abandoned vehicle, some of his food and sleeping bags were discovered.“He left for market at 7.30 pm and after some time, we found his car with blood marks. One of his slippers and a cap was also there,” the soldier's brother, Mudasir Ahmad Wani, told the outlet.Wani, who enlisted in the army in 2014, returned home for the holiday of Eid al-Adha after being on leave since 29 June. On Sunday, he was scheduled to return, reported The New Indian Express.His absence was reported to the J&K police as panic set in. Due to the jawan's disappearance, there was speculation that he may have been kidnapped by terrorists; consequently, his family had made a request for his release.His father Mohammad Ayoub Wan had pleaded with anyone who may have seized him to forgive him if he had made any mistakes and release him alive in a video message.According to the report, police, the CRPF, and the army carried out a large manhunt after the soldier went missing to find him. Over twenty people were interrogated by the security guards, who also examined the call logs and cell data of the missing soldier.To find the missing soldier, the security guards also put sniffer dogs to work.Also read: No infiltration into J&K till June-end in 2023: MoS Home Nityanand RaiThis is not the first time…In the past, militants have kidnapped and murdered security personnel who were at home on leave.According to Wion News, terrorists from Lashkar-e-Taiba kidnapped and assassinated J&K Light Infantry soldier Sameer Ahmad Malla in March 2022. His body was recovered in Budgam's orchard.Shakir Manzoor Wagay of Shopian, a soldier in the Territorial Army, was kidnapped in September 2020; more than a year later, his decomposing body was discovered in the Kulgam region.Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz was abducted from a family wedding in Shopian on 11 May 2017, while he was on leave. He was reportedly shot dead by four terrorists.With inputs from agencies