Elderly couple held hostage by militants freed in Poonch

An elderly couple, who were held hostage in their own house by militants, was on Sunday rescued as three militants and a policeman were killed during the operation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district.

An elderly couple, who were held hostage in their own house by militants, was on Sunday rescued as three militants and a policeman were killed during the operation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district.

A security person stands near a building where terrorists were hiding during an encounter near the under construction mini-secretariat at Allah Pir area in Poonch on Sunday. (PTI)

“The couple, who were held hostage, have been safely evacuated. Three militants have been killed,” Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Rajouri-Poonch range, Johny Willian told PTI.

Earlier in the day, the director general of police (DGP), Jammu and Kashmir, K Rajendra Kumar said, “They (militants) are in a house, where there is a civilian couple in a hostage situation. Forces are retrieving them. We have to evacuate the civilians first.”

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The militants were holding Haji Nazir Mir and his wife Mumtaz Mir hostage.

Haji Nazir Mir is a cousin of the Congress MLC and deputy chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir legislative council Jahangir Hussain Mir.

In the encounter between militants and security force personnel, three militants and a policeman were killed while five others -- two cops including a sub-inspector, two army men and a civilian were injured.

Both Mir and his wife, who had locked themselves inside a room in the building, were rescued unhurt after the militants were killed around 7.15 pm, police said.

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