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The Rediff Special/ Mukthar Ahmad

'Take care of all. I am fine here...'

Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar

The letter lay on the table, unfinished.

Sepoy Mohammad Haq had been writing to his sister when he was gunned down. "Pay my compliments to everyone at home," he wrote Wednesday evening, minutes before Lashkar-e-Toiba militants attacking the 15 Corps headquarters in Srinagar reached the public relations office where he worked. "Take care of all. I am fine here..."

His colleagues Subedar B D Sharma and Naik P K Maharana died with him. In the adjoining room, his officer Major Purshottam was busy making phone calls and talking to three of his friends in the media. And in his last PR act, the major saved his friends.

"He told us, 'Get into the bathroom, I think there is some trouble,'" said Fayaz Ahmad of the New Delhi Television, "We bolted the door from inside."

After the journalists took cover, Purshottam is believed to have returned to his seat and tried to telephone for help. The militants, meanwhile, had reached his room. They opened fire from close range, killing him instantly.

"It was a miraculous escape. If the militants had opened the door we all would have been killed," Fayaz said. "The firing continued for sometime... then the soldiers came in."

Along with the mediamen, Sepoy Sanathan also escaped.

Added S Tariq of the ANI: "It was the Quick Reaction Team of the Corps commander that reached the spot and engaged the militants."

The militants then took shelter in the adjoining building and started firing at the troops. Meantime, another QRT arrived, reinforcing the first one led by Captain Praneet. A tight cordon was laid around the building and a fierce encounter followed.

"I asked the militants repeatedly to surrender but they turned down the offer saying 'We will fight till the last,'" says Captain Praneet.

Journalists were allowed to visit the PRO's office Thursday morning. There was blood splattered all around. The office that was always humming with activity was deserted. And in the adjoining room, there was Haq's letter:

"Take care of everyone. I am fine here..."

The Rediff Specials

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