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Rahul Bedi

INDIAN police yesterday recovered the headless body of a Norwegian man, taken hostage along with four other Westerners by Kashmiri militants in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir more than six weeks ago.

   Police officials in Kashmir's capital, Srinagar, said the severed head was found nearby.

 A note on the decapitated body of Hans-Christian Ostro, 27, found in the hills near Peer Panzanmulla village in Anantnag district, threatened to kill the four remaining hostages - two Britons, a German and an American - in two days if the authorities failed to release 21 Kashmiri Muslim militants being held in prison.

 The note from the Al-Faran group said: 'We have killed the hostage as the Government has failed to meet our demands.'  The Indian Government maintains it will not give in to the militants' demands. And it is supported in its stand by the hostages home countries.

 However, security officials in Kashmir were surprised by the killing.

 'This will not only harm the Kashmiri separatists' cause internationally but will also invite a harsher crackdown by the security forces,' a senior army officer said.

 The security forces have already launched a massive 'sanitation' exercise across Kashmir in anticipation of India's independence day tomorrow, and officials say security is likely to be greatly stepped up.

 Troops in battle gear cordoned off several areas frequented by militants and conducted house-to-house searches. They also carried out preventive arrests.

 Ostro's body was recovered a day after his sister appealed to the kidnappers to release the hostages as they had nothing to do with the civil war in India's only Muslim-majority state in which more than 12,000 people have died in almost six years.

 In the appeal distributed to reporters in Srinagar, she said keeping the foreigners in captivity would in no way serve the militants' purpose.

 Although foreigners have been kidnapped by militants in Kashmir before, this is the first time any of them have been killed.

 Paul Wells, 23, of London, Keith Mangan, 33, of Middlesborough, northern England, and Donald Hutch-ings, 42, of Spokane, Washington, were taken on July 4 while trekking near Pahalgam about 90 kilometres southeast of Srinagar.

 The women accompanying them were set free.

 Another American, Jeff Childs, was kidnapped along with them, but escaped a few days later.

 In retaliation, militants kidnapped Ostro and Dirk Hasert, 26, of Germany from the same area six days later.

 Although there has been limited official contact with the kidnappers for several weeks, Al-Faran has regularly released statements reiterating threats to kill the hostages while distributing pictures showing them in captivity.

 However, until yesterday, senior security officials, dismissed the pictures as a stunt meant to pressure the Government into giving in to their demands.

  The militants first set July 15 as the deadline for their demands to be met, but extended it by two days after getting no response from the Government.

 Thereafter, they threatened to kill the hostages 'any time'.

 The kidnappers said Mr Hasert was ill, and also claimed Mr Mangan and Mr Hutchings were injured in a shootout with security forces at Anantnag. They said all three needed urgent medical attention.

 One set of pictures sent to Srinagar last week showed two of the hostages bandaged, reportedly hurt in the gun battle between the kidnappers and an army patrol.



Hostage beheaded by militants