Twenty year old Majid Irshad Khan, a football player of Anantang town, is the latest one to join militant ranks.
Earlier leading a college football team, months back, Majid joined Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) outfit. The picture of Majid waving an AK-47 assault rifle with an ammunition pouch went viral on social networking sites Friday afternoon. Local netizens expressed shock
Pursuing graduation at Government Boys Degree college Anantnag, he was a resident of Sadiqabad locality of main town of South Kashmir.
Earlier Majid’s friend, Yawar Nisar, had joined Hizbul Mujahideen outfit in last July. He died within a fortnight in a brief gunfight with the government forces in an Anantnag village on 3 August.
“The writing was on the wall from the moment he (Majid) saw the mutilated body of his best friend Shaheed Yawar”, wrote one of the Facebook users. “In a shocked state of mind”, posted one of his teammates. Others prayed for Majid.
Few days back, the forces had conducted searches and raids in several localities of main town Anantnag after inputs about movement of militants here.
On Thursday evening, image of another youth militant, Shamsul, a resident of Khudwani area of Kulgam district had gone viral in which he was seen sitting on the bench along with an AK-47 rifle inside the sports stadium in main town Anantnag, barely 400 metres away from Sadder police station Anantnag.
Shamsul had joined the LeT in the initial months of this year.
“ The recent movement of militants is related to the luring of local youth to join militant outfits from within the main town. Majid’s case can be viewed in this perspective”, said a police official.