In the district of Reasi, Jammu and Kashmir, on a somber Sunday evening, terrorists ambushed a bus filled with pilgrims. The bus, en route from Shiv Khori to the Vaishno Devi temple in Katra, carrying pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, met a tragic fate as it careened into a deep gorge following the attack, claiming the lives of 10, including three women, and injuring 32 others. Around 6:15 PM, the sound of gunfire filled the air, and the 53-seater bus veered off the road into the abyss. The terrorists chose their moment to strike when the bus was near the village of Teryath in the Poni area.
'The terrorists fired relentlessly at the bus,'
According to PTI, one of the survivors recalled that the bus was hit by 25 to 30 bullets before tumbling into the gorge. Meanwhile, the second victim saw a masked assailant draped in a red scarf opening fire at the bus. A hospitalized injured pilgrim from Varanasi disclosed that the bus was initially sheduled to leave at 4 PM, but departed at 5:30 PM when the shooting suddenly started. Santosh Kumar from Uttar Pradesh, also admitted to the district hospital, mentioned that he was sitting beside the driver when a vehicle came down from the dense forests and he saw an individual with his face and head covered in black hurling a barrage of bullets at the bus. He noted that the bus driver was wounded in the gunfire, leading to the vehicle's tragic plummet. He recounted how the terrorists continued to rain bullets on the bus for a long while. The victims lay helpless in the gorge until some locals reached the site and came to their aid, followed later by police personnel.
Home Minister Amit Shah assesses the situation,
Home Minister Amit Shah has declared that those involved in the brutal terrorist attack on the pilgrims will not be spared and will face the full force of the law. Following his swearing-in ceremony as the Union Minister for the second time on Sunday, Shah stated that he had spoken with the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, and the DGP of Jammu and Kashmir, RR Swain, to assess the situation in the aftermath of the terrorist attack.
The Prime Minister instructs providing all possible assistance,
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha reported that the Prime Minister reviewed the post-attack scenario and directed continuous monitoring of the situation and ensuring all possible support to the affected families. He assured that those behind this heinous act will be brought to justice swiftly.
Parties including Congress condemn the attack,
The Congress party pointed out that the incident reveals the worrying security situation in Jammu and Kashmir. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge stated that such a cowardly terrorist attack on a bus carrying pilgrims has occurred while Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his NDA government were taking the oath and many heads of state are present in the country. Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah of the National Conference (NC), Mehbooba Mufti of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPA), and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath have all condemned the terrorist attack.
Identification of the deceased remains incomplete,
Senior police superintendent of Reasi, Mohita Sharma, reported that the tragedy unfolded after the terrorists ambushed the bus with gunfire. Following the attack, the driver lost control and the bus fell into the gorge. She confirmed that the rescue operation is complete, but the identities of the deceased have yet to be confirmed, although initial reports suggest they were all from Uttar Pradesh. Sharma reassured that they are generally on high alert, having secured Shiv Khori temple entirely and conducting regular patrolling in the surrounding areas over the last few days. SSP revealed that firing practice for village defense guards has been initiated, with everyone kept on alert.
Search operations underway to track down the terrorists,
Vishesh Paul Mahajan, the deputy commissioner of Reasi who coordinated the rescue and search operations at the site, disclosed that the deceased included three women and that four bodies are at the nearby hospital. It is yet unclear if any of the deceased were directly hit by bullets. Security forces from Reasi and the neighboring district of Rajouri have been dispatched to conduct a comprehensive search operation to track down and eliminate those responsible for this atrocious act.
