NEWSLINKS US EDITION SOUTH ASIA COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES US ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
Onkar Singh in New Delhi
The Border Security Force is under pressure to explain the circumstances under which its men gunned down two Dutch nationals in Srinagar on Sunday
G S Gill, the Inspector General of the BSF in Srinagar, has strongly defended the killings. Talking to rediff.com from Srinagar, Gill said that the BSF had at no point claimed that the slain Dutchmen belonged to the Al Qaeda terrorist group.
"Some of the reporters did not attend our briefing and went ahead with their own version. The home minister of Jammu and Kashmir has ordered an inquiry and the matter is now under investigation," he said.
He gave blow-by-blow account of the activities of the two men, Ahmade el-Bakiouli and Khaliq el-Massnoui, who had been staying in 'Happy New Year' houseboat after their arrival in Srinagar on January 6.
"The two men arrived in Delhi by the Royal Jordanian Airlines. One of them travelled to Hoshiarpur in Punjab on January 3 and arrived in Srinagar by road. The other came directly to Srinagar," he said.
"We have given the same details to an official of the Dutch embassy, who had got in touch with us to find out the circumstances under which these young men were killed," Gill said.
Giving details of their stay in Srinagar, Gill said: "The two reported to the foreign registration officer on January 7. We found a receipt of J&K Bank in the pocket of one of the two. Investigations revealed that they had converted $200 dollars and taken Rs 9460 from the bank. At the time of their death they had only Rs 1100 left. What is surprising is that the two chose to travel to Kashmir as tourists. Anyone can tell you that it is not the best time to come here. They also had no return tickets."
"We found two addresses in their pockets. One of the address is in Nepal and the other is of a mosque in Bangladesh," he said.
When asked if they had tried to establish whether the two had any links with terrorists, Gill said it was up to the intelligence agencies to do so.
Talking about their movements on the day they were shot, Gill said the two men had left the houseboat at around 6:15 in the morning and they attacked the patrol party at around 7:10 am.
"It was drizzling that day. The two separated on seeing a patrol party. While one of them attacked constable Shiv Sagar, the other took on Y P Tewari. They first thrust their knives on the chests. But the bullet proof vests prevented any damage. Then they attacked them around the shoulder area. Shiv Sagar was taken to hospital in a serious condition. He got a cut below his left eye, which he is likely to lose. If these people were tourists, as is being claimed now, then why did they buy knives?"
"By 7:15 am the whole incident was over and the two had been killed in self defence by our men," he added.
"Khaliq el-Massnoui had been issued passport no M-20676150 on June 25,1999, while Ahmade el-Bakiouli had been issued passport no N-90511694 on June 6,2001. The two were issued visas on the same day and had not been living with their families. They were Moroccans who had got Dutch citizenship," he said.
ALSO READ BSF jawans kill two Dutch nationals in Srinagar Dutch tourists' killing embarrasses govt Minister rejects BSF version of Dutch nationals' killing
Back to top
Tell us what you think of this report
Call India
