UDHAMPUR:
The daring act of two hostages in overpowering their captor–a suspected Pakistani terrorist –after a tough struggle amid a hail of bullets helped in netting a terror catch that could give valuable leads.
A resident of Ghulam Mustafabad (Faisalabad) in Pakistan, Mohammed Naved, believed to be in his early 20s, who along with another militant attacked a BSF convoy, was caught alive after he was pinned down by two of the five people he had taken hostage at a school.
“He was caught by those whom he took hostage. Two of them, besides some VDC members, also helped in his arrest during the operation,” Commissioner (DC) Udhampur, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary said.
Two BSF soldiers were killed and 11 personnel injured in the attack on a convoy of the para-military force on Jammu-Srinagar national highway in Udhampur.
Another terrorist involved in the strike was shot dead in retaliatory fire. Naved identified him as Noman alias Momin, who hailed from Bhawalpur in Pakistan.
Naved, after the attack in Nassu-Samroli area, escaped and took five people hostage in a school building in a nearby hamlet.
“As I came out of my house after hearing a gun shot, this militant came and asked me to come with him. He had already taken three-four people along,” Rakesh Kumar, a youth who was taken hostage, said.
Army and Police then cordoned off the area surrounding the school to rescue the hostages.
“We were taken at gunpoint to the school. He asked us to show us the route to escape from the area,” another hostage, Vikramjeet said.
The militant threatened them that if they didn’t show him the route, he would kill their family, he said, adding that they also offered him some food.
While the other three, Desraj, Subash Sharma and Jeevan, managed to escape, Vikramjeet and Rakesh fought with the militant and caught him after a tough struggle.
“I caught his neck and he (Rakesh) caught hold of the gun. He (the militant) fired a few rounds but we escaped narrowly and caught him,” Vikramjeet said.
Fortunately there were no students in the school in view of the strike for demand for an AIIMS in Jammu, the DC said, adding that large quantity of arms and ammunition have been recovered from the captured militant. (AGENCIES)
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