Man, who went missing a month ago, found dead in Kulgam

A month after three civilians went missing in Kulgam district of south Kashmir, the body of one of the missing persons was recovered from Mah area in the region.

The locals identified the body as that of Riyaz Ahmad Bajad, 26, who had gone missing from Kulgam around a month ago.

Locals said the body was lying in a pond in Mah village in Kulgam. Bajad’s body was identified by his father and wife.

Police said the body was taken for postmortem and later handed over to family members. “A case has been registered and investigation taken up,” a police officer in Kulgam said.

Last month three youths Riyaz Ahmad Bajad and his younger brother Showkat Ahmad Bajad and a third person Mukhtar Ahmad went missing from Qazigund. For the last one month, relatives have been searching for them and had even lodged a missing report in the local police station.

All three hailed from Rajouri and were working as labourers at Qazigund. Locals said on February 13, the trio left for Ashumji Kulgam to attend some function at relatives’ house. However, they went missing before reaching their relative’s house. Their phones have remained switched off since their disappearance.