SRINAGAR: Hilal Ahmad Dar, a PhD scholar from Bemina area of Srinagar who went missing on June 14 during trekking to Gangbal Ganderbal, has joined Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Inspector General Of Police Vijay Kumar said on Tuesday.

The top police officer made the statement while talking to reporters at RTC Humhama here on the sidelines of the wreath laying ceremony of a CRPF trooper who was killed along with two militants in a gunfight in Pulwama district early today.

Later, the IGP also made an offer of not arresting Hilal Ahmad Dar, if the family brings him back.

“We won’t arrested him if his family brings him back,” he said. The family had been protesting from last week, seeking whereabouts of Dar. __Kashmir Observer