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.

GTD ID:
200302120001

When:
2003-02-12

Country:
India

Region:
South Asia

Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:

Jammu and Kashmir

City:
Bankoot

Attack Information
Type of Attack (more) Hostage Taking (Kidnapping)
Successful Attack? (more) Yes
Target Information (more)
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
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 (more) Yes
Criterion 2 (more) Yes
Criterion 3 (more) Yes
Doubt Terrorism Proper (more) No
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
"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.