Footballer turned Lashkar militant surrenders in Kashmir

College student and footballer Majid Arshid, who had joined the Lashkar-e-Taiba a week ago, has surrendered before security forces, officials said today. Arshid walked into a security camp in south Kashmir last night and surrendered with his arms and ammunition, the officials said. He was whisked away to an undisclosed destination early this morning. The college student, 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.

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Police was constantly in touch with his friends and family members, urging them to put pressure on Arshid to return home. The surrender follows appeals by his parents and 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.