Taking note of media reports on Vir Chakra awardee Subedar Rajjab Ali, war veterans have demanded a search for five soldiers of the same platoon who went missing during the 1971 war with Pakistan. The government had declared Ali a martyr in the 1971 war.

But Mahboob Ilahi, an alleged Indian spy who spent years in the Kot Lakhpat jail of Pakistan, said he had seen Ali in the jail. The missing soldiers were also from 8 Rajputana Rifles, Charlie Company, led by Subedar Rajjab Ali, and were deployed in Titwal sector of Kashmir.

The soldiers include Nayak Abdul Kareem, Rifleman Furqan Ahmad, Havaldaar Azad Gul, Nayak Abdul Haq and Rifleman Khalil Ahmed, belonging to Bhoyein Kathar village of Sultanpur district.

The platoon was ordered to capture the Sisaldi post of Pakistan. Havaldaar Azimuddin Hashmi, a resident of Bhoyein Kathar village, said: “ I was also the member of Subedar Ali’s platoon. On December 8, 1971, we captured the Sisaldi but five soldiers and Subedar Rajjab Ali went missing. We did not even find their bodies.”

Hashmi said the government had declared all of them martyrs. “Recently, we came to know that Ali is alive and lodged as a POW (Prisoner of War) in a Pakistani jail. We hope that other five soldiers may also be alive in Pakistani jails,” he added.

Another veteran, Havaldaar Sher Alam ashmi, said India should initiate talks with Pakistan to locate these soldiers. “We have sent a deputation to the UP government and the Ministry of Defence,” he said.