The Assam Police have begun an investigation after media reports claimed a man from the state has joined the militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen in Jammu and Kashmir.
The inquiry was initiated after photographs of Qamer-Uz-Zaman, who has been missing since July, went viral on social media, according to IANS. Zaman is from Central Assam’s Hojai district, the police said, adding that his family identified him from the photographs. The images show him brandishing an assault rifle, and mention his code name as Dr Hurairah.
The police, however, are cautious as the images may have been photoshopped, according to the Hindustan Times. Assam Director General of Police Mukesh Sahay said his department and their counterparts colleagues in Jammu and Kashmir were trying to verify the information.
Zaman’s family told the Assam Police that they had filed a missing persons report in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district. However, Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police SP Vaid said there was no such report. “There is no missing report with us. We checked with the Kishtwar police chief. They don’t have any such report,” he said. “His photo is there on social media...it is fake or forged, I can’t say for sure.”
Zaman, who had lived in the United States for about four years, returned to India in 2006. A few years later, he moved to Jammu and Kashmir to start a garment business, his mother Shahira Khatun told IANS. “We have not been able to contact him since July 2017,” Khatun was quoted as saying. “If my son is associated with such an organisation, the government can shoot him, I do not need such a son.”
Zaman’s brother Saif-Ul-Islam told the Hindustan Times, “I don’t think he has joined any outfit. We got to know of it when local channels landed at our house.”
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