He fought militancy,then missed it

Shiv,also known as Sonu,returned in the 1990s to Jangalwar as a special police officer with the village defence committee. Security officials would ask for the local youth to accompany them on operations,and he went on to be involved in several operations against militants in his village.

It set him on a path that would see him win rewards and medals including the Presidents police medal in 2011 and 2008,the Sher-e-Kashmir police medal twice,the Director General of Police medal,the Parahakarma Padak,and the GOC-in-C medal twice.

It is the hunger for such rewards that the police are now citing as the motive for his alleged efforts to revive militancy in the Chenab Valley region. Sonu and his bodyguard,constable Mohammad Ayub,were arrested on charges of engineering a grenade attack targeted at a police station at Thathri on April 27.

Sonu was allegedly given away by a group of arrested men who included a surrendered militant,Abdul Rashid of Tanta,and four new recruits. Caught with arms,they reportedly named Sonu for having delivered these and for asking them to hurl the grenade. Some in the police,however,feel Sonu is being framed by Rashid. The grenade,incidentally,fell short of the target.

Police sources say stories of his encounters reached then home minister L K Advani when he was visiting Doda in 1996. Promoted to assistant sub-inspector some time later,he was given what his seniors saw as a free hand in operations across Chenab Valley. He worked from his own headquarters at his heavily guarded residence-cum-guesthouse at Sarthangal near Bhaderwah. An promotion to sub-inspector,which officers call out of turn,followed in 2005.

He is credited with a decade of operations leading to the killing of over 100 militants,including some from Pakistan and Afghanistan. He was hit by bullets twice,in a leg in 2002 and in the left eye in 2007. His reputation earned him respect from across communities and gave access to bureaucrats and politicians in Doda and Kishtwar,where he was transferred two years ago after militancy had been nearly wiped out of Doda. Within days of his transfer,he led an encounter in which a HuJI militant was killed.

But he yearned for the militancy he had helped wiped out,say police sources. He spent three months in Marwah unsuccessfully looking for three Hizb-ul Mujahideen militants suspected to have been involved in the Delhi High Court blast in 2011; the NIA had announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh. Two of them were later killed; the third is believed killed by his own associates.

As his opportunities dwindled,Sonu sensed a loss of clout too. One SP in Chenab Valley once denied him entry in the area under his jurisdiction,sources say.