SRINAGAR A 26 year old MBA student from south Kashmirs Pulwama district, who had gone missing a week before, announced his joining of militant ranks on social media on Saturday.
The youth, identified as Ishfaq Ahmad Wani, son of Mohammad Yousuf Wani of Koil village in Pulwama, has joined militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba under the soubriquet of Abu Turab.
He was an MBA student and had come home during the holiday. However, he had gone missing from last one week, reports said.
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His picture brandishing an assault rifle has gone viral on social media.
Ishfaq went missing on July 22. The family on the very next day filed a missing report with the concerned police station.
Meanwhile, one more youth namely Muzamil Nazeer Bhat, 18, a 11th class student, has also disapperaed on July 22.
The family of Muzamil, a resident of Prichoo village in Pulwama, has also filed a missing report with the concerned police station.
According to officials, 45 youths, including MBA to PHD Scholars, from the Kashmir valley joined militancy in this year till mid-April.
The first four months of 2018 has already witnessed 100 deaths, including 55 militants, 20 security personnel and 25 civilians. Of the 55 militants killed, 27 were locals whereas the rest were described as foreigners by security agencies in the press handouts issued post-encounters.
In 2017, a total of 126 youths had picked up guns. It was the highest number since 2010, according to a recent data presented in the state assembly and Parliament.
There has been a steady rise in the number of youth taking up arms in the Valley since 2014 onwards as compared to 2011, 2012, and 2013.
In 2010, 54 youths had joined militancy while in 2011, the number came down to 23 and further dipped to 21 in 2012 and 6 in 2013.
In 2014, the number shot up to 53 and in 2015, it reached 66 before touching the highest mark of 88 in 2016, the data showed.
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