Kin help armyman escape abduction bid by militants

Media reports of the abduction of a serving army soldier on leave from Qazipora, Chadoora, Budgam are incorrect. Individual is safe. Speculations may please be avoided.

DEFENCE SPOKESMAN

SRINAGAR: Armyman Yasin Bhat, who was believed to have been abducted Friday night, had, in fact, managed to escape from his house at village Qazipora in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir as his family scuffled with three militants who had barged into his house to kidnap him.

He returned home unharmed a few hours after the attack and reached the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JAKLI) centre on Saturday morning.

Relatives said during the scuffle with unknown gunmen, Yasin ran away from his house and militants followed him and his family members thought that he was abducted. “After the family raised an alarm some of the villagers informed police and the army about the incident. One gunman entered the house while two others were outside,” they said. Yasin’s relatives said it was around midnight when the soldier, who was hiding somewhere in the village, returned home.

On Friday, local police officials had also confirmed that soldier had been abducted by militants from his house at Qazipora in Chadoora of Budgam district.

However, the ministry of defence released a statement on Saturday morning, terming the abduction of soldier as incorrect. “Media reports of the abduction of a serving army soldier on leave from Qazipora, Chadoora, Budgam are incorrect. Individual is safe. Speculations may please be avoided,” a defence spokesman tweeted.

Yasin’s father Ghulam Mohammad Bhat said around 8 to 8:30 pm on Friday night when he was sitting inside his house with his son, two daughters, wife and a nephew, a gunman forcibly entered the house from the rear. “He (the gunman) was looking for my soldier son. My daughters, along with my wife, intercepted him and I opened the front door of my house and started shouting for help. My family members had a scuffle with the gunman and it was then when my son ran away and the gunman followed him,’’ he said adding that they had come to take him away.

Locals said police and army reached village soon after somebody had informed them about the incident. Yasin, who joined the army in 2015, is at present posted in Uttarakhand. He had come home on February 25 on leave.

Inspector general of police SP Pani said they were ascertaining the details about the incident.