SRINAGAR: Yair Yitzhaki, an Israeli national, was freed Wednesday from a weeklong captivity by militants in the northernmost Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, while the federal government kept up its efforts to seek the release of K Doraiswamy, the Indian oil executive director.
The release of Yitzhaki, who was handed over to a U N representative by a three member “press representative”, was confirmed by home ministry sources in New Delhi.
Representatives of the government have been talking to the kidnappers of K Doraiswamy “directly as well as through intermediators”, an official spokesman told PTI Wednesday night.
“We are talking with the captors with all seriousness and sincerely,” the spokesman said adding the “government hopes that kidnappers will not act in haste or precipitate the matter”.
Doraiswamy was abducted by the militant outfit “Ikhwan-Ul-Muslimeen” on June 28 from outskirts of Srinagar, when he was on an inspection of the site of a proposed kerosene depot.
“They should be reasonable and continue to talk,” the spokesman said, adding that “it continues to be the desire of the state government to resolve the matter satisfactorily”.
The handover of the Israeli national took place through “three-member press representatives,” a masked leader of the banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) told newsmen at a hideout here Wednesday evening.
Yitzhaki was abducted along with seven other tourists, most of them Israelis at Saidkadal. In the scuffle that followed when an Israeli managed to snatch a gun from a militant, one Isracli, Evis Kanhana, and two militants were killed. Three Israelis were wounded in the incident and are recuperating in the army hospital here. Yitzhaki’s release was expedited following an appeal by United Nations secretary general Javier Perez De Cuellar, the JKLF spokesman said.
He said Yitzhaki was simply a tourist. However, he added, “we don’t know about other persons who were also kidnapped along with him, but escaped after a scuffle with the militants”.
Meanwhile, according to a report from United Nations, the UN representatives have handed over Yitzhaky to Israeli authorities in Srinagar.
AUN spokesperson said the news about the handover was received at the U N headquarters here at about 1130 hrs (Local time).
Dr. Moshe Yegar, deputy director general of the Israel foreign office in Srinagar Wednesday night welcomed the release of the Israeli tourist after a weeklong captivity.
Dr. Yegar, who came here on Monday, said his mission to India was accomplished.
He said the three injured Israelis and Yitzhaki would reach New Delhi Thursday accompanied by Israeli officials.
Dr. Yegar said while “he was happy that the hostage has been released, no one can compensate for the one who was killed.” 5 die in blast on bus CHANDIGARH-Five passengers were killed and 13 injured in a powerful bomb blast Tuesday evening in a Delhi Transport Corporation bus bound for Jammu.
The blast occurred near Dimtal on the Punjab-Himachal border.
While three passengers were killed instantly, two of the 15 injured, who were admitted to military hospital, Pathankot, succumbed to injuries later.
The ill-fated bus had left Delhi for Jammu Tuesday morning. The bomb exploded soon after it crossed Pathankot district and entered Himachal Pradesh near Dimtal.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 12, 1991
