SRINAGAR:
Junaid Ashraf Khan, the 26-year-old son of newly appointed Tehreek-e-Hurriyat chief
Ashraf Sehrai, has reportedly joined
Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terror outfit after going missing on Friday.
Junaid’s picture wielding an AK-47 rifle went viral on social networking sites on Saturday. According to the police, Junaid had gone missing from his home on Friday afternoon. The Sehrai family had lodged a missing report, the police said.
However, Junaid’s picture on social media with a written message suggested that he has joined Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.
Sources close to the Sehrai family said Junaid left for Friday prayers at a mosque near his house in Baghat locality and never returned. When Junaid did not return home after an unusually long time, his family approached the Saddar police station and got a missing report filed.
Sehrai took over the leadership of the Hurriyat last week from Syed Ali Geelani. The two have been close associates for more than six decades now.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Imtiyaz Ismail confirmed that they had received a missing complaint from the Sehrai family. “We have taken the complaint and are looking into it,” Ismail said.
This is the first time in the last 30 years of insurgency that a son of any top separatist leader has joined militancy. Junaid has done his MBA from Kashmir University.
Geelani’s sons and daughters as well as Syed Salahuddin's sons and daughters have joined the mainstream and are working in various government departments. Even Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s brother-in-law is in the J&K government as its director of hospitality and protocol.
Meanwhile, the state director general of police (DGP) Shesh Paul Vaid has urged Sehrai to appeal to his son and other local boys to shun the gun. Vaid termed Junaid’s joining of militant ranks as “unfortunate”.
The DGP said: “This is very unfortunate. I urge Sehrai that, since he is in command, he appeal to his son and other local boys wielding guns to return. He should take the lead in entering into a dialogue (with them) so that the youths of Kashmir are saved from the path of violence.”
New Hurriyat chief’s son joins...
