Incident Summary:
02/12/2003: During the night, five civilians were kidnapped from Bonkoot village, Bandipore, Jammu and Kashmir. On 02/13/2003 two bodies were found in the Bonkoot area with their throats slit and decapitated. On 02/14/2003, the butchered and decapitated body of a third kidnapped person was found in the same area. On the same day, a fourth civilian escaped and reached home. On 02/15/2003, the last person was set free. The Indian Army and Police had commenced a massive manhunt to find the perpetrators. One of the civilians with his throat slit, Bashir Ahmed Tantray, was a former militant. Indian officials believed that the victims were kidnapped by a Jihadi outfit from their homes, and the three killed were properly under suspicion by the militants for being informants to Indian Security Forces. The killings reportedly set a large shockwave of fear throughout North Kashmir, as the kidnapping came around the time of Eid-ul-Adha, one of the most holy days of the Islamic calendar.
Overview
GTD ID:
200302120001
When:
2003-02-12
Country:
India
Region:
South Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Jammu and Kashmir
City:
Bankoot
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Hostage Taking (Kidnapping) |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Private Citizens & Property |
Name of Entity |
Kashmiri civilians |
Specific Description |
Kashmiri civilians at Bonkoot village, Bandipore district |
Nationality of Target |
India |
Additional Information
Hostages |
Yes |
Number of Hostages |
5 |
US Hostages |
0 |
Days of Kidnapping |
2 |
Outcome |
Combination |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Unknown |
Extent of Property Damage |
Unknown |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Firearms |
Unknown Gun Type |
Melee |
Knife or Other Sharp Object |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Unknown |
No |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
Unknown |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
3 Fatalities |
Total Number of Fatalities |
3 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
Unknown |
Total Number of Injured |
Unknown |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
Unknown |
Sources
Sources
"Another Bandipore civilian slaughtered; Militants loot 5 SLRs from JKAP guards in Kupwara," Daily Excelsior (Internet Version-WWW), February 15, 2003. |
"Kashmir-Disarm," The Press Trust of India, February 14, 2003. |
"7 militants among 9 killed," Greater Kashmir (WWW-Text), February 16, 2003. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties