Dumped after being attacked with a knife, the Gurdaspur SP's jeweller friend Rajesh Verma on Tuesday said the militants who had abducted them were in constant touch with a 'commander sahib' and used to call him at an interval of every 10 minutes.
40-year-old Verma, who was in the captivity for more than four hours after he was abducted along with SP Salwinder Singh and a cook on Friday last, said the militants told the 'commander sahib' that the area looks "peaceful" and that they would easily reach their target.
Rajesh, who is recuperating in a hospital, also heard heavily-armed militants, saying "hamara kam Insha Allah fateh ho jayaga (we will achieve our mission)".
"The person sitting next to the driver's seat (in SP's vehicle), was called 'major sahib', who in turn was talking to some 'commander sahib'. The rest were not talking at all. They used to talk in Urdu, and I could not understand much except 'Insha Allah'," he said.
Narrating his ordeal, Rajesh, who was dumped after militants tried to slit his neck, said, "They used to speak to their 'commander sahib' after an interval of 10 minutes each. They talked to him numerous times."
"When they reached near their target, they said 'commander sahib' the area looks peaceful and the mission will be achieved and they will easily reach the target," said Rajesh, who was tied up by the militants in the vehicle.
Asked whether the militants used GPS, he said, "They perhaps lost their way once. The driver said this is not the right way. Then they activated (GPS), then one of them said this is the way as we have reached near river."
Asked for how much time he was in their custody, Rajesh said, "I was in their custody between 12 and 4 am. I had no hope that I would be alive. May be God had something else in mind".
He said they were carrying 'pithus' (backpacks). "I believe they were heavy and must be containing some explosives like grenades," he said.
The terrorists also took Rs 2,000 from Rajesh. "They first took Rs 500 from me and said they will be thankful for it. In all, they took Rs 2000 from me and left the purse on the vehicle's dashboard," he said.
"I was having more money in my wallet.They could have kept more money with themselves.
But the person sitting by my side kept Rs 500 note in his jacket's pocket".
Rajesh said the abductors were using five phones.
"The one who was sitting next to me, his phone's battery was dead. They had two phones also, one was my phone and two phones of the SP, in all they were using five phones," he said.
Rajesh said when militants reached near their target, they tried to kill him by slitting his throat.
"At last when they stopped, two of them who got down and told 'Alpha', who was sitting on my legs, to send me to heaven, after which I realised that they were going to kill me. My hands and legs were tied. I tried to free myself.
"But they hit me with a rifle butt and punched me. All were in Army fatigues and carrying backpacks which were heavy. Every time they lifted these bags, they used to say 'Insha Allah'. In between they used to ask for an energy drink and chocolate," said Rajesh.
"They told me that my accomplices (SP and cook) had betrayed them and they want to teach me a lesson for this.
They attacked my throat with a knife and blood oozed out and told me that within a few minutes I will reach heaven (die), after which they left me," he said.
When Rajesh realised they had gone, he removed his shoes and freed himself from ropes and other things they had stuffed inside his mouth.
"Later, I opened the vehicle's door, it had central locking and it started blinking. I thought now I would surely be in trouble as the vehicle's central locking was making a sound, but then I realised that several minutes had passed and they would have moved forward," he said.
Rajesh then ran for half a km. "Blood was still oozing out and to stop it, I removed my jacket and tied it tightly around my neck to prevent further loss of blood," he said.
"I was feeling thirsty and I was forced to take few sips from a drain," he said.
He then saw a Gurudwara and started knocking at its door.
"I requested the priest to help me reach hospital immediately. I told him that I was abducted by some terrorists.I took a phone from him and rang up my brother-in-law who took me to hospital," he said.
The police was informed as soon as he reached hospital.
Asked whether he heard the conversation between the SP's gunman and militant, he said, "Yes, they received the call of Kulwinder (SP's gunman) who had asked them where was SP sahib. After that they damaged both the phones with the rifle's butt."
Meanwhile, talking to reporters in Pathankot, Madan Gopal, the cook who was kidnapped along with the SP and his friend, said, "I along with SP Sahib was blindfolded with my saffron colour 'patka' (head gear) and pushed to the rear seat of the vehicle."
"They (terrorists) asked us not look up and talk, threatening us that if we speak, they will kill us. They hit me with a rifle butt. I pleaded with them not to hit me and also told them that I was suffering from cervical problem," he said.
When asked what kind of conversation he heard, Gopal said, "They were saying one is Sikh, one is an old man and one is Hindu, which they were telling on phone to someone."
"On the way they stopped vehicle, I was wearing plastic slippers and we (SP and cook) were dumped.
"They (the terrorists) were carrying AK-47 rifles and they appeared to be well equipped carrying backpacks... After being dumped, we managed to free ourselves, but they took Rajesh along in the vehicle," he said.
"Our officers did a good job and cordoned off the area," the cook said, adding "otherwise things could have been worse".
