M A I N   N E W S

Woh hamein marne ke liye bolte the...
The day after, Kajal, four-and-a-half years old, recounts the horror of being taken hostage with her family in Jammu

Chinore (Jammu), August 28
Held hostage with her three siblings and her mother for 19 hours, four-and-a-half-year-old Kajal survived the ordeal but the trauma of watching her neighbour being gunned down by militants will remain etched on her mind forever.

“Woh hamein marne ke liye bolte the aur chup karne ke liye thapad bhi martey the” (they threatened to kill us and even slapped us, asking us to remain quiet), Kajal said, her voice fumbling, as she was reunited with her father Billu Ram Bhagat. Billu was out of the house when the militants struck. “When they killed Kala Ram, I became very afraid,” Kajal said.

Kala Ram, 24, was among the three hostages killed by the militants during the stand-off. As she tried to recount the shocking drama, Kajal’s brother Kumar, seven, was playing with the youngest, Vipin, who is just two years old. Their mother Sunita Devi, 35, who was shot at by the militants and wounded in the thigh, has been admitted to a hospital.

Narrating the incident, Kajal’s sister Sheetal, 9, said the three men were wearing police uniforms.

“One of them was bleeding from his leg. They asked for milk and then huddled us in the kitchen. We locked ourselves in when we realised that they were militants but they broke the door and brought us out,” she said.

The militants then took the family to the basement. “They kept threatening us. They said they will kill us,” she said.

“As we tried to convey to the security forces the whereabouts of the militants, they tried to break the door ... but I resisted. They then opened fire,” Sunita said.

Ritu, Bhagat’s sister-in-law said: “We pleaded with them not to kill us and offered them belongings and cash. We asked them to spare for the sake of our young children. They locked all of us, except my husband who they kept separately in a room.”

“I had lost all hope... My family has come out of the jaws of death,” a relieved Bhagat said as he hugged his four children after the stand-off ended with the killing of three militants.

Tears rolled down Bhagat’s face as the children, with fear still writ large on their faces, crowded around their father.

Bhagat, who had suffered a snake bite, had gone to a hospital for treatment and, on return, found the house surrounded by security personnel.

The Special Forces killed all the three militants and rescued the seven hostages, including the four children, Bhagat’s brother and sister-in-law.

Ashok Kumar, their tenant, a teacher, and the son of a Territorial Army battalion jawan Shyam Murari, who was chasing the militants, were killed by the militants. — PTI

Jammu Encounter
Coming out of jaws of death
Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 28
He had lost all hope. “My family came out of jaws of death,” a relieved Billu Ram said as he hugged his four shocked children, who survived a 20-hour-long hostage drama that ended with the killing of three militants.

When Billu Ram was waiting outside the Chinore residence, which was occupied by militants, his younger brother, Tarsem (30), who was among the hostages, was inside braving the shock of his life.

Tarsem, who was on a visit to Ram’s house as the latter was admitted in a hospital following snakebite, when a group of three heavily-armed militants forced their entry into the house at around 6 am on Wednesday.

“We first heard some gunshots and before we could understand what was happening, three armed men in police uniforms entered our house,” Tarsem told The Tribune.

“They pushed everybody including the children into a room and made me sit with them,” he said.

Soon after, security forces cordoned off the area and then began a gun battle.

Sound of bullets was making him shiver. “For a moment I thought our end was near,” Tarsem said adding, “As the encounter intensified, one of the militant asked me to bring out a child from the room, as they were contemplating to use kids as a human shield.”

As he did, he locked the room from inside thinking that he should defend his family till the last moment.

“I knew we had to die in either of the case then why not resist, so I decided not to come out. After locking the door from inside, we placed bed and other heavy items in front of the door." Tarsem said.

As Tarsem did not come out the infuriated militants tried to break the door. However, when they did not succeed they sprayed bullets on the door in which Sunita, wife of Billu Ram, was injured.

“Those 20 hours were like living hell for all of us, the children were crying as their mother had fallen unconscious. We all were hungry and thirsty but it was the fear of being killed that was worrying us the most,” Tarsem said.

The four children of the age group of three to nine were taken hostage by the militants and they witnessed the battle zone for more than 20 hours.

“We never thought we would come out alive, but when suddenly the firing stopped and army commandos knocked the door, we thanked God and the army for saving our lives,” Tarsem said, adding, “That moment was like a rebirth for all of us.”

“The children are very much scared, so we have sent them to an ashram,” Tarsem said. He said, “Their mother is still recovering in the hospital.”