Una (Himachal Pradesh), July 29: Morning broke with the chilling news of the murder of two Pakistani hostages in Iraq. By evening, the sense of foreboding had turned into fullblown panic.

“The moment I saw today the photo of a captor pointing a gun at Antaryami and threatening to kill a hostage by tomorrow, I decided that I will die before that and will not see his body,” said Ram Murti, the father of the Indian hostage.

“We have not heard from any government official for the last three days. We have lost faith in everything. Only God can save the life our son now,” Ram Murti said in Una.

Ram Murti, who has refused to eat since he returned last night from Delhi, is again heading to the capital. “Had the child of a Prime Minister or President been taken hostage, would the government have not done anything? Are we not Indians?” he asked.

Some people again blocked roads today for 30 minutes in the afternoon but Antaryami’s family has distanced itself from the protest, denouncing it as “politically motivated”.

Pramila Devi — the wife of Tilak Raj, the other hostage from Himachal — is still under medical observation and she has not been told of the new threat. “Any bad news can be perilous to Pramila and her unborn child,” a doctor said.

The family of the third hostage, Sukhdev Singh from Punjab, too, has left his fate in God’s hands.

“What can we do? The panchayat will be meeting to decide what to do next. We have no one but the villagers with us,” lamented Sukhdev’s brother Harbinder Singh. “Only God can help us now.”

Sukhdev’s mother said she is praying that no phone call would come tomorrow. “He used to call every Friday and say that we need not worry about our debts. His phone call did not come last Friday. I am worried about getting a call about him tomorrow. I just want him back,” she wailed.