Srinagar, March 12—A surge in disappearances across Jammu and Kashmir sparked concerns in the Assembly on Wednesday, with legislators from multiple parties stating that eight youths remain untraced while five others, who had gone missing, were found dead in Kathua’s upper reaches.
The recent cases include a 17-year-old student from Poonch, two teenagers from Kathua, three youths from South Kashmir’s Devsar area, and two from Ganderbal.
NC MLA Ajaz Jan drew attention to the latest disappearance—a 17-year-old student from Poonch, Yawar Rashid, who went missing in Jammu after an exam.
“Efforts must be intensified to locate him,” Jan urged, calling for immediate intervention by security agencies.
The disappearance of Rashid follows reports from Kathua, where two families have reported their teenage sons missing from the Rajbagh and Marheen areas.
Identified as Deenu and Rehmat Ali, their whereabouts remain unknown, adding to the growing list of cases that have surfaced across the region.
Meanwhile, NC legislator Mian Mehr Ali informed the Assembly that three youths from South Kashmir’s Devsar area—Reyaz Ahmad Bajard, Showkat Ahmad Bajard, and Mir Ahman Awan—have not been seen since February 12.
“The families have been waiting for answers, but there is still no trace of them,” Ali stated, pressing for a more coordinated response from law enforcement.
Moreover, five other missing individuals were discovered dead in upper reaches of Kathua over the past two months. Their deaths remain unexplained, with authorities yet to disclose the circumstances. The incidents coincide with reports of militant movement in the region, though no official link has been established.
PDP leader Bashir Ahmad Mir raised another troubling case—two missing youths from Ganderbal, Muhammad Rafiq and Naseer Ahad Sher Gojar, who disappeared on separate dates.
“No one even mentioned them in the Assembly,” Mir said, criticizing the lack of attention to their case.
Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan met senior central armed forces officers in Kathua on Sunday to review the situation.