Ex-Ugandan Army Officer's Bid to Escape From Captivity

By Fayaz Wani

Srinagar, Oct 23: Indian police foiled an attempt by a retired Ugandan Army officer, who was arrested by Indian police in Kashmir on August 3 this year, to escape from their captivity.

A retired Lieutenant Colonel of the Ugandan Army, Rashid Hassan alias Muhammed Yousaf, was arrested in the Jammu region of restive Kashmir on August 3 and was to be produced before a court yesterday. He was escorted in a police vehicle to the court and during this process he tried to escape from captivity by jumping from the vehicle.

The policemen accompanying him chased him and after a hot pursuit they managed to catch him. Later, he was handcuffed and produced in court.

The Ugandan army officer was arrested because he was traveling without any valid travel documents in Kashmir. A photocopy of visa (No 900130 valid upto 13-12-2008) was recovered from his possession which also has his passport No B0497444, issued by the government of Uganda and vaild upto December 2015.

He has failed to produce original documents.

He was interrogated by the police officers, but the details of his statements were not known.

Fayaz Wani reports on life in Srinagar, Kashmir.