Trauma grips village Chinore, freed hostages safe

Jammu, Aug 28 (UNI) A day after terror struck village Chinore on the city outskirts, fear gripped the entire area, where the rescued mother and her four children were said to be safe but traumatised, sources said today.

The residents of the village are still in emotional shock after the nightmarish 19-hour-long fierce gun battle between the security forces and the militants, who had killed two civilians yesterday and later kept hostage six members of a family, including four children between three to nine years of age.

The militants were suspected to have infiltrated from Pakistan side after breaching the barbed fencing on the international border at Kanachak in Akhnoor sector on Tuesday.

''We visited the house of Billu Ram Bhagat (where militants intruded and kept his family hostage) in the morning to inquire about the well-being of the children, who were freed after the gun battle. They were in shock and not able to describe anything related to the incident,'' Tarsem Lal, a resident of the area told UNI.

Sunita Kumari, 35, wife of Bhagat, has been admitted to the hospital as she got wounded during the exchange of fire between the militants and the security forces.

''Reminding yesterday's horrible militant attack, injured Sunita thanked the Almighty for gifting new life to her children, who had witnessed terror at their door step,'' one of the neighbours told UNI.

However, it was surprising that all of the four children, namely Sheetal Devi (9), Kajal (4), Arshit (5) and Vipan (3), did not even demanded a glass of water during 19-hour long battle of nerves (mother of kids told relatives after being rescued), sources added.

''Sheetal told that she encouraged her younger sister and brothers when they started crying and shouting for help from outside after they bolted themselves inside a room,'' Rakesh Kumar, another resident, asserted.

The mother is being treated in the Government Medical College Hospital while the children have been sent to the nearby 'Ashram' for treatment to get out of the trauma.

UNI VBH GL RN1449