Mohammad Saleem Shah had been working as a special police officer and had been recently promoted. Saleem was recently promoted as constable from Special Police Officer (SPO) rank and was undergoing training at the police training centre in Kathua in Jammu province. Special police officers are a force of volunteers. The constable had come home in Muthalhama of Kulgam district on leave.

Mohammad Saleem Shah was abducted by militants from his home at village Mutalhama on 21 July 2018 in the evening. Mohammad Saleem Shah body was recovered from an orchard in Qaimoh area of Kulgam district on 21 July 2018 (Saturday) afternoon. His body bore bullet wounds and marks of violence and torture. He was killed after being tortured by the militants. Security forces launched searches at Redwani area in Kulgam district in South Kashmir this morning after receiving credible inputs about the presence of terrorists in a cluster of houses and the security forces advanced, hiding terrorists fired resulting in a brief encounter in which three terrorists were killed. No collateral damage occurred during the encounter.

A chilling video of Mohammad Saleem Shah emerged on 22 July 2018. In the last video, Saleem was grilled by the terrorists about the 2015 encounter of top Jaish commander Adil Pathan. In the horrifying footage, Saleem Shah was seen answering the terrorists' questions and accepted to have played a role in gunning down Pathan, the brother of Jaish-e-Mohammad's (JeM) Kashmir operations chief Mufti Ashghar, on October 8, 2015. It was believed that Pathan was tasked by Ashghar and JeM chief Masood Azhar to recruit youngsters and revive the outfit, edged out after its cadres were found involved in the then Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's assassination bid in 2003.

Mohammad Saleem Shah is survived by aged parents, two brothers and one sister.

Source: honour point