The Jammu and Kashmir police on Tuesday informed that the PhD student who went missing in Srinagar on June 13, has joined the militant group Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.

Hilal Ahmad Dar, a resident of Srinagar’s Bemina, went missing on June 13 during a trek to high altitude Naranag, in the central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district along with four of his friends.

While the others returned home on the same evening, Hilal did not, soon after which the family lodged a missing complaint with the police.

On Tuesday, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Vijay Kumar said, ‘As per report, he has joined Hizbul Mujahideen. If his parents bring him back, we won’t arrest him,’ as quoted by The Indian Express.

Since his disappearance, Dar’s family members have been moving from pillar to post in Srinagar, and have requested Lieutenant Governor administration and the Police to locate him. The family discarded all the claims of Dar joining the militant group.

Dar is an orphan and was pursuing his PhD in Kashmir University’s Management Studies Department.

Speaking to the local news agency, Dar’s Uncle Nisar Ahmed appealed to the heads of all the security agencies in Kashmir to trace him. ‘Check his phone records of 20 years, he has nothing offensive against him. He was working in a private company in Gurgaon and had come home in the wake of a virus,’ Ahmed added.

The police informed that five friends, who accompanied Dar on the trek, are being questioned. They even took the police to the exact spot where the 26-year-old scholar was last seen.

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