 Srinagar: Police on Monday night rescued all the five civilians held captive by militants inside a mosque in Jammu and KashmirÂ’s Kulgam district and killed all the three militants, ending the 24-hour hostage crisis.
The security personnel lobbed tear gas shells, forcing the three militants to come out. They then engaged the captors in a gun battle in which two militants were killed, police sources said.
Another militant fled and took shelter in one of the minarets of the mosque and engaged the police in an encounter for nearly an hour, after which he too was eliminated.
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DIG H.K. Lohia said all the five hostages were unharmed and the mosque suffered no damage in the gun battle. Earlier in the day, three of the five hostages tricked their way to freedom even as the hostage drama rolled into the second day. |