Appeal to your sons to shun path of violence: DGP to J-K women

Director General of Police S P Vaid today urged all women in Jammu and Kashmir to appeal to their sons, who have joined militancy, to shun the path of violence and return home.

The DGP's reaction comes after college student and footballer Majid Arshid Khan, who had joined the Lashkar-e- Taiba a week ago, walked into a security camp in south Kashmir last night and surrendered with his arms and ammunition.

He was whisked away to an undisclosed destination early this morning, officials said in Srinagar.

Arshid, a goalkeeper for his local team in Anantnag in south Kashmir, is believed to have turned to militancy after a close friend was killed in an encounter.

"I pray that wisdom prevails and all such mothers whose sons have picked up guns also appeal to their sons to give up the path of violence and come back home," the DGP wrote on Twitter.

Vaid wrote the post in a re-tweet to the message of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on her Twitter post.

Mufti was reacting to the surrender of Arshid by saying "a mother's love prevailed to bring aspiring footballer back home."

"Every time a youngster resorts to violence, it is his family which suffers the most (sic)," the chief minister said.

The police were constantly in touch with Arshad's friends and family members, urging them to put pressure on him to return home.

The surrender follows appeals by his parents and the Jammu and Kashmir Police. His parents had gone on television and social media to ask him to surrender.

A video showing his mother Asiya Khan crying and asking him to come home went viral on social media. PTI AB DK KJ