The bullet-riddled bodies of two Special Police Officers (SPOs) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, who had gone missing a day earlier, were recovered in Kishtwar district on Thursday, November 12, officials told news agency PTI.

Source: PTI via Daily Jagran

The deceased were identified as Babi Chand (57) and Rashpal Kumar (45), both residents of Kiyar village in the Dachhan area and posted with the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the local police at Kiyar.

Update to Wednesday's story

The two SPOs had gone missing on Wednesday, November 11, while travelling from the Kiyar camp to an Army post at Dharna in Marwah for rotation duty, and did not reach their destination. Reports of gunfire in the Dehrna forest area followed, and police and the Army launched a joint search operation, as Awaaz Punjab reported on Wednesday. Read the earlier report: Two SPOs go missing in Kishtwar, search launched

Officials said the service weapons of the two personnel were not found with the bodies, which has raised suspicion of a possible militant angle. That suspicion has not been officially confirmed, and officials said it would be premature to link the deaths to any militant activity until the facts are established.

An official told the Kashmir News Observer (KNO) agency that the bodies were recovered during the search operation, that cognisance of the incident has been taken, and that an investigation has been initiated while the exact cause of death is being ascertained.

Source: KNO via Asian News Hub

The recovery came a day after three CRPF personnel were injured when motorcycle-borne assailants opened fire on a checkpoint at Akhran near Mir Bazar in Kulgam district, a separate incident that Awaaz Punjab reported on Wednesday. Security forces were continuing search operations in the Kulgam area on Thursday, ANI reported.

In the separate Kulgam incident on Wednesday, three CRPF personnel were injured in a checkpoint attack. Read: Three CRPF personnel injured in Kulgam checkpoint attack