The J-K Police have suspended two of its officers for failing to re-arrest Hizbul Mujahideen Operations Chief Nisar Ahmad Bhat alias Gazi Misbah-ud-Din after he was released on bail by a court in Anantnag last Wednesday. The police have launched a state-wide manhunt for Bhat and are simultaneously conducting a high level probe into why Bhat was not re-arrested. The Jammu and Kashmir administration is averse to setting free a militant commander or even a separatist politician and the standard procedure has been to re-arrest the accused outside the court premises itself in case the accused is granted bail. The two officers Counter Intelligence Kashmir surveillance incharge at Anantnag Section officer Abdul Rashid,three of his intelligence personnel and an Assistant Sub Inspector who was heading the guard party that was accompanying Bhat were suspended on Saturday for dereliction of duty and negligence. The Police investigation is also probing any prospect of an inner hand in the failure to arrest Bhat. A resident of Arwani village in Anantnag,37-year-old Bhat was released on bail after being imprisoned for more than two years. Bhats sudden release on bail has sent shock waves through the J-K security establishment which is of the view that Bhat has the capability and base to rejuvenate the outfit. Bhat,police says,has 30 militancy-related cases pending against him. The Hizbs senior-most commander in the Valley,he was nabbed by police when they raided his hideout near Pulwama in December,2007. According to police,Bhat had first crossed over to Pakistan in August,1991 from Kalroos in Lolab and had been active since. The police say Bhat worked as the transport incharge for the militant group for four years in Pakistan,even serving as Hizb Chief Commander Syed Salahudins driver. J-K police sources reveal that Bhat returned to J-K and became the divisional commander of the Poonch-Rajouri districts in 1999. Bhat was asked to cross over to the Valley from the Pir Panjal region in 2004,police said.
