A Kupwara man who has joined HizbulMujahideen recently was asked by his sister on Friday to give up arms and return home.
Bilal Ahmad Shah, 27, was not heard of since March 2 when he told his brother Tariq that he was travelling to Ladakh.
In a picture that went viral on social media sites on Thursday, Bilal is seen holding an assault rifle and presented as Hizbul Mujahideen militant with Shahbaz as alias.
“We are devastated to see him holding the gun. I appeal to him to please listen to me and shun this path that snatched our father from us when we were kids,” said SakeenaAkther, Bilal’s sister.
Bilal’s father Shams-u-din Shah, a militant, had been killed by government forces in a gunfight in 1992.
Sakeena said Bilal had been earning “an honourable” living by working at Srinagar Fruit Mandi but for the past three years he had been sitting idle at home.
Bilal’s plunge into militancy comes more than three months after a PhD student, ManwanWani, from Lolab area of the same district announced his entry into Hizb.
Bilal had matriculated and also pursued Islamic education during his stay at an orphanage in Srinagar.
His siblings and some close family members met Kupwara senior superintendent of police ShamsherHussain and sought his help in locating Shah.