Pakistani terrorist Usman had fired on a convoy of the Border Security Force, killing two soldiers
Udhampur:
The Pakistani terrorist captured after an attack on a Border Security Force convoy today, was overpowered by a group of villagers who he had taken hostage.
After an exchange of fire with the BSF, in which two soldiers and his accomplice were killed, the terrorist, identified as a man called Usman Khan, ran into a village nearby and captured three people. (Read: Came Into India 12 Days Ago, Says Pakistani Terrorist, Smiling After Capture)
"He sought directions at gun point," said one of the villagers the terrorist took hostage. They walked with him up a hill, he said, when Usman Khan said he was hungry. They stopped for food and "we got together, forced him to the ground and unarmed him."
Usman Khan, who was armed with an AK-47, was prepping to open fire on a police party from the hilltop when the villagers pinned him down. "I grabbed his neck, another grabbed his gun," said one of the men.
"Let me go," the terrorist pleaded, but they held him down till the police arrived, he said.
That panic was not evident by the time the policemen questioned the terrorist on the hilltop, his hands bound behind his back. He smiled as he answered their questions.
The police later led him down the hill, his face wrapped in a cloth.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweeted, "Very brave of the unarmed civilians to wrestle & disarm an armed terrorist. They should be suitably rewarded for this bravery."
It was a big breakthrough for the police to catch the terrorist alive. The last time a terrorist was caught alive in the state after a terror attack was in March 2012 in Srinagar's Bemina.
Intelligence officials had allegedly warned of a terror attack for the stretch of highway in Udhampur that was targeted today.
After an exchange of fire with the BSF, in which two soldiers and his accomplice were killed, the terrorist, identified as a man called Usman Khan, ran into a village nearby and captured three people. (Read: Came Into India 12 Days Ago, Says Pakistani Terrorist, Smiling After Capture)
"He sought directions at gun point," said one of the villagers the terrorist took hostage. They walked with him up a hill, he said, when Usman Khan said he was hungry. They stopped for food and "we got together, forced him to the ground and unarmed him."
Usman Khan, who was armed with an AK-47, was prepping to open fire on a police party from the hilltop when the villagers pinned him down. "I grabbed his neck, another grabbed his gun," said one of the men.
"Let me go," the terrorist pleaded, but they held him down till the police arrived, he said.
That panic was not evident by the time the policemen questioned the terrorist on the hilltop, his hands bound behind his back. He smiled as he answered their questions.
The police later led him down the hill, his face wrapped in a cloth.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweeted, "Very brave of the unarmed civilians to wrestle & disarm an armed terrorist. They should be suitably rewarded for this bravery."
It was a big breakthrough for the police to catch the terrorist alive. The last time a terrorist was caught alive in the state after a terror attack was in March 2012 in Srinagar's Bemina.
Intelligence officials had allegedly warned of a terror attack for the stretch of highway in Udhampur that was targeted today.
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