In what is shaping up to be a disturbing trend emerging from the Kashmir Valley – with militancy drawing more of the troubled region’s youth – five school kids were rescued by the Jammu and Kashmir police on Monday, 3 December, after they had “threatened to join militant ranks.”
According to a report in Greater Kashmir, a police spokesperson said that the boys’ parents had reported that they had received phone calls from their kids, who had left for school on Monday morning, informing that they were going to join militant ranks.
“To ensure quick and timely action, Srinagar police constituted a special team... the help of the families’ strenuous efforts led to tracing of all the five missing boys. They were brought back safely,” he said, as per the report.
All five boys were counselled before they were handed over to the parents, the police spokesperson said.
“Timely information and efforts of the family played a key role in this endeavour,” he added.
The situation in Kashmir is changing as more and more youth are joining militant ranks. According to a Hindustan Times report, as compared to 2013, when 31 local youths joined militancy, the number for 2015 (till September-end) had jumped to 66, according to police records.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)