Militants planned to hold Army men, students hostage: JAMMU: Three suicide bombers from Pakistan, who had attacked Hiranagar police station and Mehsar Army camp in Samba on September 26, had planned to take Army personnel as hostage and prolong the encounter. The fidayeens reportedly planned to seek release of some militants in lieu of ending the hostage drama. The militants were educated as some of the times they had conversed in English referring to directions of one ‘Qazi Sahib’. As a second option, the militants had reportedly been directed by their commanders across the Pakistan to hold the students of nearby Army Public School as hostage if they didn’t succeed in their first plan of taking Army officers in the Officers’ Mess inside 16 Cavalry Unit Camp as captives. The militants had also brought with them a handcuff fitted with a long chain to tie themselves either with the Army personnel or the school students, to whom they had planned to hold hostage so that they were not killed by the Commandos as the persons tied with the chain would also be killed in the operation. Meanwhile, Army has closed some Army Public Schools especially in Samba and Kathua districts for few days as a precautionary measure. Official sources told that a similar infiltration attempt had been planned by the militants in Hiranagar sector last night but alert security agencies including the BSF on the International Border and police, para-military and VDCs in the hinterland after getting reports of the input about the intrusions didn’t allow the plot to succeed. Sources said recoveries made from the possession of three slain suicide bombers and reports of the Intelligence agencies have given broader hints that the fidayeens had intruded into this side with a view of prolonged stay by enacting the hostage drama either inside the Army camp or in the Army Public School. “All three fidayeens were in possession of a large quantity of dry fruit, fresh packed food and tablets used as an alternate of food. These items in possession of all three militants gave enough indications that the militants intended to prolong the encounter but their plan was foiled by the Army Commandos, who took very little time to eliminate them,” sources said. Noting that the militants soon after their infiltration inside Mehsar Army camp had shifted towards Officers’ Mess was an indication that they wanted to keep some Army personnel there as hostage. One of the militants had also tried to move towards family quarters but by then the Commandos had evacuated family members of two officials. “The recovery of handcuff and a large chain tied to it recovered from the slain fidayeens was another proof that the militants had sneaked into this side to enact hostage drama apart from killing the security personnel. They might have planned to use the handcuff and the chain to tie it with the hostages-either Army personnel or the school students as this would give them lease of life as the Army wouldn’t be able to kill them,” sources said. They added that new modus operandi of the militants to bring handcuff tied with a long chain was detected for the first time as earlier no such recoveries had been made from the possession of fidayeens. “The militants’ idea was clearly aimed at prolonging the encounter by holding the Army personnel or the students as hostage and tie them with the handcuff along with their own Army as this would have rendered the Commandos helpless. If they tried to kill the fidayeen, the persons tied to the chain would also have been killed something the Army or any other security agency could ill-afford,” sources said. The large quantity of almonds and some cooked food in possession of the militants also added to the theory of enacting the hostage drama and then prolonging it. Sources didn’t rule out the possibility of militants seeking release of some jailed terrorists in lieu of the hostages but said no such input has come to the fore so far. Sources pointed out that soon after their infiltration inside Mehsar Army camp near Samba, the militants had moved towards the Officers’ Mess and killed Lt Col Bikramjeet Singh, Second-in-Command of the Unit and injured Commanding Officer before taking positions inside the Mess. However, by the time the militants entered inside the Officers’ mess, the troops had become alert and left the premises. The Commandos had rescued some of the families in Army quarters adjacent to the Officers’ Mess before launching the assault on the fidayeens to eliminate them. The Army Public School was located just near 16 Cavalry Unit Camp at Mehsar in Samba. “The militants appeared to have set in with a plot to prolong the encounter but brave Commandos of the Army thwarted their plot. The Commandos killed the militants after zeroing-in on the area (a part of the Officers’ Mess), where they had taken positions and vacating all Army personnel and their families from adjacent areas. The Commandos had fired RRL rounds to target the fidayeens, eliminate them and thwart their nefarious designs of enacting the hostage drama,” sources said, adding it was all due to brave efforts of the Army Commandos that the casualties of the Army were minimized. Sources disclosed that militants before being killed had planted four live grenades atop the water tank where they had also taken position for sometime before entering the Officers’ Mess. The trap had been laid to kill the Army personnel during searches. However, troops sanitized the area with utmost alertness and defused the live grenades. Troops have put their all installations including Army Public Schools on high alert especially after the alert sounded by the Centre that the militants were planning more infiltration to cause casualties during festival season. Eyewitness account with Intelligence agencies and police has revealed that the militants were educated and had even conversed in English sometimes apart from Hindi and Urdu while traveling in a load carrier and truck from forward village of Hariya Chak to Hiranagar and then Mehsar Army camp in Samba. Sources said the militants had been referring to one `Qazi Sahib’ frequently while the travel. Security agencies were engaged in breaking the code name of `Qazi Sahib’ but asserted that he could be their handler in Pakistan affiliated with Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) outfit. The militants were also taking direction with the help of a Compass while traveling in the load carrier and truck, they added. Meanwhile, BSF remained on very high alert in Hiranagar and other sectors on the IB last night. Police, CRPF and VDCs had also laid nakas along the infiltration routes leading to Hiranagar in Kathua district. This had been done on a specific input of fresh infiltration attempt from Hiranagar sector. However, no infiltration attempt was reported last night.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Oct 2013 05:46:34 +0000
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