Rakesh and Vikramjit, the hostages who helped capture the Pakistani terrorist, Mohammad Naved. Both are members of their village defence committee. (PTI)
Rakesh and Vikramjit, the two men who overpowered a Pakistani terrorist and pinned him down till he was arrested on Wednesday, will be honoured with gold medals and a cash reward on August 15, Independence Day.
While trying to escape after attacking a Border Security Force on a convoy near Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir, the terrorist ran into a village and took three men hostage, among them Rakesh and Vikramjit, who are members of a village defence committee.
The terrorist was armed with an AK 47 rifle. The villagers were unarmed, but they risked their lives and attacked him.
"We were staring at death anyway, so we decided to take a chance and overpowered him," Vikramjit told NDTV, hours after his heroic effort got the police a prize catch - a terrorist caught alive.
Rakesh too said, "I thought we were going to die so why not take him along." He said he held the terrorist's arm in a way that he could not move and Vikramjit took his gun away. While resisting them, the terrorist is said to have fired the AK 47, but no one was injured.
The two men then pinned him down for about half an hour till the police arrived.
The district magistrate of Udhampur, Dr Shahid Iqbal, recently honoured by the Prime Minister for outstanding administrative work, said, "This was a major attack. Their behaviour has been exemplary. We will reward them with 50,000 rupees at the district level and will recommend their name for bravery awards at the state and national level."
Dr Iqbal said he would also recommend Rakesh and Vikramjit for government jobs.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had tweeted on Wednesday, "Very brave of the unarmed civilians to wrestle & disarm an armed terrorist. They should be suitably rewarded for this bravery."