SRINAGAR: A J&K police party arrested a decorated deputy superintendent of police (DSP) along with two Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) terrorists near Mir Bazar in the Qazigund area of Kulgam district of the newly formed Union Territory when the trio was traveling in a car on Saturday afternoon. DSP Davinder Singh had bagged the prestigious President's Police Medal only on August 15 last year.

The two HM terrorists arrested by the police party, headed by south Kashmir deputy inspector general (DIG) Atul Goel, have been identified as Naveed Babu and Asif Rather. While Naveed is a top HM commander, Rather is a listed terrorist, who had joined the outfit three years ago. Both are from Shopian.

Two AK-47 rifles and some hand grenades were recovered from the white Maruti car used by the trio, top police sources said. DSP Singh, who was in the anti-hijacking squad of J&K Police, was currently posted at Srinagar International Airport (SIA). Earlier, he was made part of the special operations group (SOG) of J&K Police as an inspector after this elite force was established in 1994. During his SOG tenure, he got an out-of-turn promotion and became DSP because of his successful anti-terror operations.