Junaid Khan, son of Hurriyat chief Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai, joins Hizbul Mujahideen; pic of him holding AK-47 goes viral

Junaid Ashraf Khan, a son of the newly-elected chief of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, Mohammad Ashraf, has joined the Hizbul Mujahideen militant group in Kashmir. A photograph of Junaid, 28, wearing a skull cap and holding an AK-47 assault rifle and ammunition pouch in his hand went viral on social media on Saturday. The pic captioned “Junaid Ashraf, who has a Master’s degree in business administration from Kashmir University, has been code-named Amaar Bhai.”

According to the police, Junaid had gone missing from his home on Friday afternoon. The Sehrai family had lodged a missing report at the Saddar police station, the police said. The DGP Shesh Paul Vaid urged Sehrai to appeal parents of Junaid and other boys to shun the gun and return back to home. Vaid termed Junaid’s joining of militant ranks as “unfortunate”.

He 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.” “Junaid’s brother Rashid Ashraf Khan arrived at the police station on Saturday with a complaint that his brother has been missing since Friday,” a police officer said.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Imtiyaz Ismail they have registered a missing complaint from the Sehrai family. “We have taken the complaint and are looking into it,” Ismail said.

In the history, it has happened the first time that the son of a senior separatist leader has joined militancy in Kashmir, which has been witnessing militancy since 1989. Junaid has done MBA from Kashmir University.

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