J&K Police DSP Devinder Singh, who was arrested on January 11 with two Hizbul Mujahideen militants, has been recommended to be dismissed from service on Wednesday.
Singh was arrested by Jammu and Kashmir police during an operation in Sopian when he was going towards Jammu with top Hizbul Mujahideen militants Naveed Babu and Asif Ahmad.
A lawyer, who is believed to be an overground worker of Hizbul Mujahideen, was also nabbed.
The vehicle in which Singh was travelling with the militants was intercepted after the police tracked the movements and location of Babu, who was once a Special Police Officer in Jammu and Kashmir police.
According to security forces, Babu was involved in the killing of 11 people from outside Kashmir, including truck drivers and labourers in in October and November 2019. He was also wanted for his involvement in forcing a shutdown in south Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019.
Sources said that during his interrogation, Singh has repeatedly maintained that he was not helping the militants to escape from Kashmir and that he was taking the duo to surrender before the Jammu and Kashmir police.
In a related development, Jammu and Kashmir Police on Tuesday (January 14) clarified that Singh was not awarded any gallantry or meritorious medal by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
“It is to clarify that Deputy Superintendent of Police Davinder Singh is not awarded any Gallantry or Meritorious Medal by MHA as has been reported by some media outlets/persons. Only gallantry medal awarded to him during his service is by the erstwhile J&K State on Independence Day 2018,” Jammu and Kashmir Police said in a tweet.
Earlier on Sunday (January 12), Jammu and Kashmir Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar had said that Singh will be dealt as a "terrorist". Addressing a press conference, IGP J&K Police Vijay Kumar had said that Singh was arrested after the police received a tip-off that some terrorists were going towards Srinagar-Jammu highway.
Singh has been booked under the Unlawful Activity Act. Giving details about the arrest of Devinder Singh and two Hizbul commanders on Saturday, Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar had said: "SP Shopian had a specific input about the movement of two militants in a car which led the police to launch an operation."
Among those arrested include two top commanders of Hizbul Mujahideen -- Naveed Baba and Rafi Ahmad -- of Budgam. On a question about Davinder Singh's role in taking Afzal Guru, hanged for his involvement in the Parliament attack, to Delhi, the IG had said:
"There are no such records. However, the police will look into the matter."
Davinder Singh was posted with the anti-hijacking unit at Srinagar Airport and was one of the officials that received the 16-member delegation of foreign ambassadors which visited Kashmir, last week.
Many raids have been conducted so far after Singh's arrest and arms and ammunition have been recovered, the police said. The IG, however, parried questions about the identity of the owner of the vehicle in which the two militants and Singh were arrested.
Opposition has fiercely attacked the Central government over the issue and touted it to be a larger conspiracy behind Singh's arrest. Congress has asked the prime minister and the home minister to order a thorough probe.
The opposition claimed that Singh "cannot be a stand alone carrier", with the Congress' leader in LoK Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, saying the question will now arise who were the real culprits behind the last year Pulwama attack.
The terror strike in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama had left 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel dead on February 14 last year.
Terming Singh as a 'black sheep', J&K LG G C Murmu's Advisor Farooq Khan on Tuesday said the credit to identify and nab him goes to the police which has a history of making thousands of sacrifices in the fight against terrorism.
He said the operations against terrorists would continue till the menace is finished from the Union Territory.