Indian army soldier Javed Ahmad Wani went missing from his native Kulgam district in Kashmir while he was on leave. He was recovered by the J&K police on Thursday, Jammu and Kashmir Police informed on Twitter.
Wani is a rifleman with the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry. He was posted in Ladakh and had taken leave for Eid last month.
A resident of Achathal village in Kulgam, south Kashmir, he went missing after he left for nearby Chawalgam village.
Wani vanished on July 29 in the vicinity of his house. According to his family and police officials, he left his home in Asthal, Kulgam, in his car to get some grocery items at night before he was scheduled to return to his duties in Ladakh. He was on leave since June 29 in preparation for Eid-ul-Azha.
His family claims that the blood-stained car was found abandoned about 9 km from his house. “He departed for the market at 7:30 pm, and when we returned later, his car had blood stains on it,” the soldier’s brother, Mudasir Ahmad Wani, told a national daily that one of his slippers and a headgear lay scattered in the car which was unlocked.
The family of Javed, who is in his late 20s, was concerned that militants might have abducted him. Security personnel launched a large manhunt in Kulgam and the surrounding areas.
During the search operation to discover the soldier, a number of persons were questioned and their phone histories were looked into.
Mohammad Ayoub Wani, the father of Javed, had pleaded with whoever might have kidnapped his son to let him go alive. “I appeal to those brothers to let him go alive. If he has troubled anyone, I apologise for that”. He also said that he would make Javed quit his job, if they wanted so.
The police said that a joint interrogation along with the Army will be carried out soon after a medical checkup of the soldier.