‘Priority was to rescue the hostages safely’

Brigadier V P Singh of Domana Brigade and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Jammu, Manohar Singh, led the operation. Positioning themselves opposite the house where the millitants were hiding, senior Army and police officials discussed each and every aspect of the operation with the help of Billu Ram Bhagat, whose eight family members were among the hostages.

Giving details regarding the operation, SSP Manohar Singh said, “A joint search operation of the Army, police and Border Security Force (BSF) was going to Kanachak sector when we got information that three militants were hiding inside a house in Chinore and they had killed four persons.”

“Wednesday’s operation started after 6 am, when reports of hostages being taken by the militants was confirmed,” Singh said, adding, “An Army battalion, Special Operation Group (SOG) personnel, along with the area police, cordoned off the area with the help of the CRPF. The planning of the operation started from here. The topmost priority of the security forces was to rescue the hostages safely,” the SSP said.

The SSP mentioned that Billu Ram Bhagat and his neighbours helped them during the operation. “With the help of Billu, we prepared a blueprint of the house. Later, we contacted some other local residents and prepared a map to the house and that of the locality,” he added.

Singh said that the militants were Pakistani nationals and belonged to the Lashkar-e-Toiba outfit. He added that three AK-47 rifles, two under barrel grenade launchers (UBGL), 16 magazines, 17 grenades, 500 AK rounds and night vision camera were recovered from the encounter site.

The Army deemed the operation a success. “Though we are happy that we could save most of the hostages, we are also sad three of them were killed,” said Brig V P Singh after the operation.