Grief grips Anantnag after local soldier's killing, LG pays homage

Srinagar: Sorrow engulfed Anantnag's Nowgam village when the news of local army jawan Hilal Ahmad Bhat reached there on Wednesday.
Bhat was Kidnapped by terrorists on Tuesday while he was on his way back to join duty after leave, a neighbour said.
"The entire village is in grief ... Hilal was a nice person," Mohammad Shafi said.
Bhat is survived by his wife, his five-year-old son, Azaan, and an infant daughter.
Shafi said the soldier had come home on leave to spend time with his family.
"Yesterday, he returned to report to work, but later we heard that he had been abducted on the way," he said.
"I appeal to the government to take special care of his family as they have lost their breadwinner," he added.
According to army, security forces recovered a bullet-ridden body of Bhat on Wednesday from Sanglan forest in Utrasoo area of Anantnag.
Junaid Bhat, a childhood friend of Bhat, was yet come to terms with his friend's death.
"I do not know why he was kidnapped and killed. We grew up together .... he was such a nice person," he said.
A massive search operation was launched to rescue the jawan after he was reported missing on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday paid homage to Territorial Army jawan Hilal Ahmad Bhat, whose bullet-ridden body was found earlier in the day.
The body of Rifleman Bhat, who was reported missing on Tuesday, was recovered from the Sanglan forest area in Anantnag's Utrasoo.
Sinha laid a wreath and paid homage to the jawan.
"I salute the supreme sacrifice of our Army braveheart Rfn Hilal Ahmad Bhat. His valour and sacrifice will never be forgotten. The entire nation stands firmly with the family of the martyr in this hour of grief," the lieutenant governor said.