Jammu and Kashmir police have found the missing army soldier from Kulgam five days after his mysterious disappearance, with his family claiming that he was hale and hearty.

A police spokesman said rifleman Javed Ahmad Wani, 25, a resident of Asthal village in south Kashmir’s Kulgam, was found on Thursday night and was being questioned.

Additional director-general of police Vijay Kumar said the soldier underwent a medical check-up before facing a joint interrogation.

Wani’s mother Jawahara Banu on Friday said she met him in police custody on Thursday night.

“I met him, hugged him. He was in good health,” she told reporters in Kulgam.

The family had earlier said the soldier might have been forcibly abducted as the car he was driving had blood stains on it. He had gone missing on Saturday evening following which massive searches were conducted in the area.

The police and the army were unusually silent about his disappearance, admitting only that the soldier had gone missing.

A police officer in Kulgam said Wani was questioned but refused to share further details.

Asadullah Wani, a former sarpanch of Asthal, said around 30 youths were picked up for questioning in and around the village in connection with the soldier’s disappearance.

“We got 24 of them released,” the sarpanch told The Telegraph.

“We know nothing about how he disappeared and how he was found. We only heard that he was recovered from a village, some 4.5km from here, last night,” he added.

The family had issued repeated appeals to Wani’s alleged abductors to release him.