The 18 Hours That Ended with Two SPOs Dead in Kishtwar

What began as a failure to report at an Army post in the remote mountains of Kishtwar ended, roughly eighteen hours later, with the recovery of two bodies from forested terrain and a security operation searching for answers. The two men were Special Police Officers Babi Chand, 57, and Rashpal Kumar, 45, both attached to the Special Operations Group at Kiyar in the Dachhan belt. Their deaths have turned what first appeared to be a disappearance into a serious security investigation in one of Jammu division's most difficult operational landscapes.

According to reports citing officials, the two SPOs were travelling on Wednesday, 11 November, from their camp at Kiyar towards an Army position in the Dharna-Marwah or Basnan sector. The area lies across rugged mountain country where forest cover, narrow tracks and poor mobile connectivity can complicate even routine movement. When the two men failed to reach their destination and contact with them was lost, concern quickly deepened.

Reports from the area also referred to gunfire being heard in the wider forest belt around the time the personnel disappeared. At that stage there was no confirmed account of what had happened, and security officials had not publicly established whether the firing was connected to the missing officers. That distinction mattered. In a district where counter-insurgency operations have repeatedly moved through dense forests and high-altitude terrain, the sound of gunfire could not by itself establish an ambush, an abduction or a militant attack.

The missing weapons immediately became one of the most important details in the case. Officials cited in multiple reports said the service arms carried by the two men had not been recovered with their bodies. That raised suspicion of a possible militant role, though the full circumstances still required investigation. The location of the weapons, the exact point at which the men were attacked, the timing of their deaths and whether they were intercepted while moving towards the Army post are all questions investigators will need to answer.

The terrain itself is central to understanding the story. Dachhan, Marwah and adjoining forest belts are among the more remote areas of Kishtwar. Poor connectivity can create gaps in communication, while thick forests and broken mountain routes make searches slow and difficult. Security teams operating there must often work across large areas with limited visibility and few easy access points.

That is why the period between the disappearance and the recovery matters. During those hours, the case moved through several stages. First, two men did not arrive where they were expected. Then search parties were sent out. Reports of gunfire gave the disappearance a more alarming context. By Thursday morning, the discovery of the bodies and the absence of the weapons had changed the character of the incident completely.

The deaths also come against a wider background of security pressure in Jammu and Kashmir. Kishtwar's forested reaches have remained an area of concern because militants can use difficult terrain for concealment and movement. Security forces have conducted repeated searches and operations in the district, and every unexplained disappearance or firing incident in these belts is therefore examined against the possibility of militant activity.

There is also a recent precedent. In October, another Special Police Officer in Kishtwar, Bashir Ahmed, was reported missing along with his service rifle and was later found dead. The circumstances of that case were different and should not automatically be treated as part of the same chain, but the proximity in time adds to concern about the vulnerability of auxiliary police personnel working in isolated posts and difficult terrain.

For the families of Babi Chand and Rashpal Kumar, the operational questions come after a much more immediate fact. Two men left on duty and did not return. The hours of uncertainty ended with confirmation of their deaths. Their names, ages and postings now sit inside a larger security story, but for those who knew them the event is first a personal loss.

The investigation will have to establish a precise chronology. When were the men last seen? At what point did communication fail? Was the reported firing connected to them? Were they attacked while travelling, or after reaching a particular point in the forest? Were their weapons taken after they were killed? Was anyone else in the area able to see or hear what happened?

Until those questions are answered, it would be premature to convert suspicion into certainty. The missing weapons and bullet injuries make the possibility of a militant attack serious, but the official investigation must still establish the sequence and identify those responsible.

What is already clear is the speed with which the case changed. On Wednesday afternoon, two SPOs were moving through the mountains towards an Army position. By evening, they were missing and security teams were searching. By Thursday morning, both were dead. In Kishtwar, roughly eighteen hours had been enough to turn a routine movement between security positions into another grim entry in the district's continuing security record.