The arrest of a middle-rung police officer along with two militants, one of them a top commander of Hizbul Mujahideen outfit, has raised disturbing questions about the role of J&K Police in Kashmir’s counter insurgency networks. The arrest took place in Kulgam district on Saturday, January 11 when the officer’s private car on way to Jammu was intercepted in Wanpoh. Although it will be very easy to malign the whole police force for the wrong deeds of one person, there certainly arise a number of questions that the police force will have to answer. First and foremost, why was a deputy superintendent of police driving two top militants along with arms and ammunition to Jammu? Were the two militants planning to carry out an attack in Jammu with the help of the police officer? Or was their destination beyond Lakhanpur? It cannot be merely a coincidence that the accused police officer has been named by the 2001 parliament attack convict Afzal Guru for his role in the horrific attack that brought the two nuclear armed neighbours on the brink of a full-fledged war. According to Guru, the accused police officer had forced him to accompany a foreign militant to Delhi who was blamed by the security agencies for being the main perpetrator of the heinous attack. Yet the suspected police officer was reportedly never probed by the security agencies and in fact he has been awarded gallantry medals for bravery. It also can’t be a coincidence that the police officer’s arrest took place barely days after the change in guard at the top level with Kashmir getting a new inspector general of police. Rules of the game may demand the two sides to keep an eye on each other. But wisdom lies in knowing which line to cross and which to avoid. The manner in which the police officer was arrested has cast a shadow on the entire police force. During a press conference in Srinagar on Sunday, the top brass of the police force minced no words while describing the events that led to the arrest of the DSP-ranked officer whom he termed a “terrorist”. However, the buck should not stop there. The past three decades of turmoil have given birth to hundreds of vested interest in which police officers like the one in custody are made pawns of the bigger game. The moot question is whether the police will be able to put an end to the dirty games that are being played to keep the pot boiling in Kashmir?