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| Red alert in Akhnoor after two women held hostage, freed by "infiltrators" | | Massive operation launched to kill them, locals' movement restricted | |
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Mar 23: A massive "seek and destroy" operation was on till late Tuesday night in the border Jogwan area of Pallanwala, Akhnoor, after seven to eight heavily armed militants, who had infiltrated from across the International Border (IB), held two women hostage in the wee hours of today morning.
A red alert was sounded in the whole of Akhnoor tehsil and security was further tightened on the routes leading from the border Jogwan village to the towns. Army troops had taken control of the whole area, official sources said. The movement of vehicles and locals was also restricted, the sources added.
Sources said when the day was breaking at about 5 am and the sprawling fields on the IB were becoming visible, eight members of two families, including three women and two young girls, left homes at Jogwan for their border fields to collect fodder for cattle. They were now walking along the Saryala Nullah, which flows into the nearby Pakistan, when whispered words coming from quite near hit their ears, breaking the dead silence of the quiet morning.
The moment some of them peeped into the nullah to find out who was whispering, they were scared to find seven to eight men in Pathan suits with rifles on their shoulders. All of them then fled back towards the village. Two women -- Sukha Devi, wife Sham Lal and Geeta Devi, wife of Rashpal -- were, however, caught by them and dragged into the nullah.
They were slapped and beaten with rifle butts. However, both of them were later released by the infiltrators. They then ran towards Jogwan where their six accomplices had already alerted the villagers. All of them later approached a nerby army picket and narrated the whole incident.
The two women told troops that after dragging them into the nullah, one of the militants spoke to someone (possibly in Pakistan) on a mobile set and told him that some villagers had seen them and they had taken two women hostage. They said that the voice on the other side directed them to free the women with the warning that they would not tell anybody about their presence in the nullah. They were then freed with the warning to which they agreed, they added.
Soon thereafter, army troops fanned out in the area, plugging all entry routes to the village. Police and SOG men also joined them later. Reinforcements were later despatched to Jogwan and its adjoining villages.
The troops were continuing their combing operation till late tonight, but they had not been able to find any clue to the whereabouts of the infiltrators.Sources did not rule out the possibility of their having fled back to Pakistan.
Taking no risk, the troops had, however, taken Jogwan and its surrounding border villages in their cordon and laid ambushes to stop the militants from entering the towns.Checking of vehicles and frisking of pedestrians was also being carried on the Akhnoor-Jammu road.The troops were continuing searches in the border Pallanwala area till late tonight.
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