Srinagar, Aug. 28: The militants who took a family, including four children aged 2 to 9, hostage for 18 hours in Jammu yesterday had kept slapping and threatening them, a four-year-old girl said.

Billoo Ram Bhagat, whose family was taken hostage

Bhagat’s wife Sunita, 35, in hospital after being shot in the thigh

Their eldest daughter, Sheetal, 9

Their second son, Nishant, 7

Younger daughter Kajal, 4

Youngest son Vipin, 2 PTI pictures

“Woh hamein marne ke liye bolte the aur chup karne ke liye thapad bhi marte the (they were threatening to kill us and kept slapping us, telling us to remain quiet),” said Kajal, the third child of Billoo Ram Bhagat and Sunita Devi, whose home the rebels had raided.

“I had lost all hope. I am with my children thanks to the army’s efforts and I shall for ever remain obliged to them,” a tearful Billoo said today after the army killed the last of the three militants around midnight and rescued seven hostages.

Kajal, 4, and Vipin, 2, were in shock and were taken to a psychiatrist today.

Billoo had been admitted to hospital for a snakebite on Tuesday, and wasn’t home when the rebels in police uniform arrived at the house in Jammu’s Chinore suburbs early yesterday morning.

When the trader in cattle fodder returned from hospital, he found his home cordoned by the security forces and stood helplessly outside through the hostage drama, fearing the worst.

Inside the house, the militants gunned down three visitors: the children’s tutor, a neighbour and a Territorial Army jawan who had entered the house in pursuit of the rebels.

The seven survivors include the four children — Sheetal, 9, Nishant, 7, Kajal and Vipin — their mother Sunita Devi, Billoo’s brother Tarseem and sister-in-law Ritu.

Sunita, 35, shot at by the rebels and injured in the thigh, has been admitted to hospital.

“When we tried to convey to the security forces the whereabouts of the militants, they (the rebels) tried to break the door (where the family had barred themselves in). But I resisted. They then opened fire,” Sunita said.

It wasn’t clear how she had tried to contact the security forces and whether she had used a phone.

The family was in the kitchen sipping tea when the militants stormed the house. With them was Ashok Kumar, who ran a private coaching centre on the second floor, and neighbour Sandeep Singh alias Kala who had come to enquire about Billoo’s health.

Suddenly, a stranger barged in, running. It was the Territorial Army’s Shyam Murari, who was apparently passing by when he saw the militants arrive and quickly realised their intent.

If the family was surprised by Murari’s entry, they knew moments later they were in deep trouble.

“We heard gunshots and sometime later three men entered our house. We thought they were from the army,” said the eldest child, Sheetal.

“But when they began shooting (at the forces) and warned us not to make any noise, we were frightened. We realised they had bad intentions…. We started weeping and crying but they warned us not to.”

All the seven from the family were herded into an adjoining room, while one militant climbed to the second floor and took up position. Ashok, Sandeep and Murari were asked to stay back.

“Sometime later, we heard gunshots and cries in the other room. We guessed the three had been killed,” Tarseem said.

“We bolted the room from inside. At times they knocked on the door but we didn’t open it. It was terrible. If I had not bolted it from inside, they may have killed us all.”

His wife Ritu said: “We pleaded with them not to kill us, saying we had small children, and offered them belongings and cash.”

Within half an hour of the militants’ arrival, the security forces surrounded the house.

The army’s special forces launched the final assault at 11.45pm. Soldiers led the hostages out around 2am after clearing booby traps and grenades in the house.

The seven needed long persuasion to open the door of their room after the army entered the house.

Neighbours, who had stayed indoors as gunshots echoed across the locality, were overjoyed.

“They came out unscathed from this house of death thanks to God’s blessings,” neighbour Niranjan Nath said. “The entire colony was praying for their well-being.”

“I think the entire country was praying for my family,” said Billoo, who visited a temple with his children today. “Otherwise who could have imagined that they would survive such a nightmare?”

The General Officer Commanding (GOC), 26 Infantry Division, Major General D.L. Chowdhary, expressed satisfaction at the “meticulous” operation. He said the army’s dilemma was that if it speeded up the operation, the hostages might have been killed.

“It was a very sensitive but successful operation. We were able to save the family, particularly the women and children,” he said. “Unfortunately, we lost three hostages to the militants’ bullets.”