JAMMU, DEC 29: Two of the four hardcore foreign mercenaries, who were arrested by the state police from Maharastra for allegedly conspiring to assassinate Shiv Sena supremo Bala Saheb Thackrey and blow up the RSS headquarters in Nagpur last month, escaped from police custody at Surankote in the Poonch district at the border on Wednesday morning.However, while one of them was later shot dead by the police party chasing them in an encounter, the other managed to escape along with his accomplices, who were already waiting for him in the forests. Sources identified the slain militant as Abu Abdullah alias Tayab and his absconding accomplice as Mohammad Afzal Shah alias Abu Maaz.The Duo hailed from Pakistan and owed allegiance to the Pan Islamic Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).They along with Abu Hamza alias Mohammad Yaseen alias Khalil, a supreme commander of LeT and Abu Saifullah, were arrested by a party of the Special Operation Group (SOG) of state police on a tip off from an arrested militant Mohammad Sohail - a prime accused in the killing of 35 Sikhs at Chittisinghpora in Anantnag district during March this year. They were also involved in the killing of Amarnath pilgrims at Pahalgam and various other incidents of violence in variour parts of the state.As two of the arrested militants were also involved in killings in the border Poonch district in Jammu region, they were brought from Anantnag to Surankote a few days ago. Both were lodged in the Surankote police station.However, during the wee hours of Wednesday morning, one of them complained of severe pain in the stomach and asked the lone sentry on guard duty to take him to the bathroom.As the latter responded, both the militants pounced upon him and started biting him.Later, they fled from the police station, leaving the injured sentry behind.However, what is intriguing is that no other policeman in the police station intervened during the scuffle. Sources said that it is being ascertained as to whether the sentry was all alone at the police station, or he raised an alarm only after the militants had fled.The Deputy Inspector General of Police for Poonch-Rajouri, Ram Lubbaya, said the sentry has been suspended and a departmental inquiry initiated into the matter.However, the police chased the militants immediately after it came to know about their escape from the police station. As the duo were cornered at Dharaba, they attacked the police party. The latter retaliated and killed one of them.Another militant, however, stabbed a cop and fled towards Phagla forests where Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) commander Abu Hareesh, an Afghan national, was already camping along with his accomplices. As the police party entered the forest while chasing the militants, they were showered with rockets by the LeT militants.However, the police retaliated and after over three hours of long exchange of fire, militants including Abu Maaz managed to flee under the cover of thick foliage and darkness. A massive search operation has been launched to flush out the militants till last reports came in.More reinforcements have been rushed to the area, sources said, adding that the police and security forces in the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri have been put on maximum alert.
