Two Special Police Officers, Babi Chand, 57, and Rashpal Kumar, 45, have been reported missing from Dachhan in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir, prompting a large-scale search by police and the Army's Rashtriya Rifles. Both men disappeared on Wednesday, according to official reports, and their whereabouts remain unknown.
Both men were posted with the police Special Operations Group at Kiyar village. They were travelling from the Kiyar camp towards an Army post at Dharna-Marwah when they went missing. Their phones were reachable at first but were later switched off, after which contact with them was lost. Officials have not yet established the circumstances of their disappearance, and the sequence of events between their departure from the camp and the moment their phones went silent has not been made public.
Search teams have been deployed across the rugged, forested mountain terrain of the area. The operation aims to locate the two men and establish how they disappeared. The terrain, with its steep slopes and dense forest cover, is among the factors that make such searches slow and demanding, and personnel have had to work through difficult ground in the search.
Officials have cautioned against drawing conclusions about the cause. They have said that linking the case to militancy would be premature, and that facts are still emerging. No confirmed cause has been established so far, and the authorities have not attributed the disappearance to any group.
The disappearance comes against the backdrop of repeated counter-insurgency operations in Kishtwar against the remaining militants in the district. The difficult terrain and forest cover have complicated these operations, and security forces have had to work in such conditions over a sustained period.
Official figures set out the scale of violence in the area in recent years. In 2026 so far, five people have been killed in the district, four terrorists and one soldier. In 2025 the toll was four, three terrorists and one soldier. In 2024, three security personnel and two civilians were killed.
Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Sharma has urged residents to share information about militant movement with the authorities. The appeal, made on October 4, specifically targeted the Marwah, Warwan and Dachhan areas, the same belt in which the two men went missing. Officials have also said that the militant presence restricts the tourism potential of the region, a factor that bears on the wider economy of an area that depends on visitors.
For now, the search continues, and no confirmed account of what happened to Babi Chand and Rashpal Kumar has emerged. Officials have said that further details will be shared as the investigation progresses.
Source: india.com
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