Srinagar, June 16: A picture of a young man from Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district wielding a gun has gone viral on social viral, with police suspecting he may have joined militancy. In the viral photo, Imtiyaz Ahmad Mir, a resident of Gulgam Kupwara, is seen brandishing a gun. Mir went missing last week. His family has made an appeal requesting him to return home.

"His gun wielding picture has been seen on social media. We are verifying," Ambarkar Shriram Dinkar, senior superintendent of police, Kupwara, was quoted by Hindustan Times as saying. Mir, who would run a photostat shop, had left home for the Kupwara market on June 11 and didn't come back home since then, locals said. Jammu And Kashmir on High Alert After Pakistan Warns India of Pulwama-Type Terror Attack.

In the viral picture, Mir is seen wearing a military vest and holding a rifle pointing its barrel towards the ground. There is a stamp of Hizbul Mujahideen on the photo with the name of 'district commander (Anantnag) and Kupwara Mohammad Ashraf Khan alias Mansoorul Haq'. It is mentioned that he is a Hafiz-e-Quran and has done a diploma. Pakistan PM Imran Khan Makes Veiled Attack on India Over Kashmir During Address in SCO Summit 2019.

Youths taking up arms often post their pictures wielding a gun on social media. "We will now have two militants including Mir. The other one is also a local from Kralpora area. He joined some 6 months ago," Dinkar said. While young men continue joining militancy, officials say that in the first five months of this year the number of youth taking up arms was less compared to the previous years.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 16, 2019 07:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).