Missing Army soldier found dead in central Kashmir, revenge killing suspected

His body had no bullet marks but showed signs of blunt injuries, officials said.

Srinagar: A soldier of the J&K Light Infantry missing for three days was found dead in an orchard in Kashmir Valley's Budgam district on Thursday, officials said.
As per the officials, the 28-year-old soldier identified as Sameer Ahmad Malla, who was posted in Jammu had been home on leave to be with his wife for the birth of their second child. He went missing from his village Lokipora in the Khag area on Monday.

Officials said that Sameer's body had no bullet marks but showed signs of blunt injuries and that it appeared to be "revenge killing".

A preliminary examination indicated that he was hit with a rod on his face, killed, and later buried, the report said. Sameer last spoke to his mother from his mobile, saying that the phone battery was running low and he would call her if they get disconnected.

Pertinently, the deceased soldier was held guilty in 2019, by a court-martial along with his company commander Major Leetul Gogoi for fraternizing with a local woman and being away from the place of duty while in an operational area. He was the one who drove Gogoi and a local woman to a hotel in April 2018. A year earlier, Gogoi had hit the headlines for tying embroidery artisan Farooq Ahmed Dar to his jeep and using him as a human shield against stone-pelting.

(With agency inputs)