Terrorists operating in Rajouri-Poonch suspected behind carnage
*Terrorist fires at bus in middle of road, vehicle rolls down into gorge
*Temporary Operation Hqrs set up to track down attackers
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, June 9: In a major terror attack, the rare of its kind in Reasi district in past about two decades, the terrorists opened firing on a bus returning from holy cave shrine of Shiv Khori in Ransu area, at village Kanda in Taryath area, bordering Rajouri district, killing nine persons, seven of them pilgrims besides driver and conductor of the bus, both locals of Reasi, and injuring 43 others, all non-locals.
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Taryath area borders Kalakote tehsil of Rajouri district and is surrounded by forests and mountains. It is being suspected by security agencies that the terrorists operating in Rajouri and Poonch districts, who were instrumental in series of attacks during last about a year, were responsible for the strike and managed to escape after the firing.
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The terror attack comes an hour ahead of oath ceremony of the new Council of Ministers in the NDA Government. Though during the peak of militancy about two decades back, some massacres took place in mountainous and far off areas of Reasi district; this probably is for the first time that the terror attack took place on the main Ransu-Taryath road. Officials, however, said that some of the casualties took place as the bus rolled down deep into the gorge.
This was second terror attack on the pilgrims in little over two years. On May 13, 2022, the terrorists targeted a bus carrying Shri Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrims near Katra in which four yatris were killed and 20 others were injured. Initially, it was presumed to be an incident of fire but subsequent investigations established that there was a blast in the bus caused by the terrorists.
The incident occurred when the bus had travelled about 10 kilometers from Ransu, the base camp of holy cave shrine of Lord Shiva, called Shiv Khori Ji, and was on way to Katra. The local bus No. 3485 JK02AE had driver and conductor as locals identified as Vijay Kumar of Dassanoo, Reasi and Arun Kumar of Kandayar, Katra, both of whom died in the attack, while all passengers travelling in it were non-locals hailing from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and New Delhi.
-Excelsior/Romesh Mengi
People were of the view that there should have been very high alert in Rajouri, Poonch and Reasi districts on the day of oath ceremony. At the spot, local people continued rescue operations for nearly half an hour till the help from administration reached.
Officials and eyewitnesses told the Excelsior that the terrorists, believed to be three in numbers, had laid an ambush at a small hill surrounding the road at Kanda in Taryath area, and opened firing as the bus reached at an isolated place around 6.10 pm targeting driver and tyres. Only one of them came on the road resorting to firing while two others gave cover to him.
Driver lost balance after being hit by the bullets, a result of which the bus rolled down into the gorge. The terrorists targeted the bus multiple times using assault rifles.
The terrorists, numbering between two to three, escaped from the spot before locals started reaching there after hearing sound of gunshots.
Seven pilgrims besides driver and conductor of the bus were killed and 43 others were injured.
Locals started rescue operation and brought out many dead and injured from the gorge. Police, Army and CRPF teams also rushed to the spot after getting reports and launched search operation in the area. Dead and injured were shifted to hospitals.
As per the officials, injured have been admitted in the different hospitals. Latest reports said nine injured were under treatment in District Hospital Reasi, 11 in Narayana Hospital Katra and 23 in the Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu.
Officials, however, said that some of the dead and injured had bullet injuries while others were killed or wounded as the bus rolled down into a gorge.
An eyewitness Santosh Kumar Verma from Uttar Pradesh told the Excelsior that they were returning from Shiv Khori to Katra in the bus when suddenly a terrorist came in middle of the road and started firing.
“We saw one terrorist. He fired at the driver and passengers and the bus rolled down into the gorge,” Verma, who was part of a total of 14 yatris from Uttar Pradesh, said while admitted in the District Hospital Reasi.
He said a total of 50 yatris were sitting in the bus.
“The firing stopped after few minutes and then we started crying. Locals came for the help and brought us out,” the pilgrim from the UP said.
Officials said the terrorists, as per the plan, fired at driver and tyres of the bus to cause accident after firing with a view to ensure maximum casualties.
As per the officials, both driver and conductor of the bus, who hailed from Reasi district, were dead. Seven others killed in the attack were non-locals. Most of the injured also hailed from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and New Delhi and had come for darshan of Shiv Khori and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Ji shrine.
Additional DGP Jammu Zone Anand Jain has reached the spot to supervise operations against the terrorists.
SSP Reasi Mohita Sharma told the reporters that the terrorists had laid an ambush and opened firing on the bus. The driver was hit and the bus got imbalanced, she said, adding that nine persons have died and 33 others were injured.
“The Shiv Khori shrine has been secured. We were already maintaining high alert. Area domination patrols are being conducted by police and Village Defence Guards,” Mohita said.
An official statement issued by the Jammu Zone Police said with the help of local villagers, police have evacuated all passengers by 8.10 pm. A Joint Security Force Temporary Operation Headquarters by Police, Army and CRPF has been launched to get at the attackers, it said.
A round-the-clock helpline has been set up by the district information for information and assistance about the victims of the bus accident. The helpline numbers include 01991-245639, 01991-245076, 0191-2542000 and 9419839557.
Locals of Reasi said such a major terror attack hasn’t been witnessed in past two decades especially on main road of a famous religious shrine which is daily thronged by thousands of devotees from different parts of the country.
Meanwhile, a massive search and cordon operation has been launched in the forests surrounding Taryath and adjacent forests of Kalakote tehsil to hunt down the terrorists involved in the attack.
Dead Address
Vijay Kumar, Driver Dassanoo, Reasi
Arun Kumar, Conductor Kandayar, Katra
*Seven other injured are non-locals whose identity hasn’t been established so far.
Injured Address
Banti Noida, Delhi
Laxmi Devi Noida, Delhi
Meera Sharma Noida, Delhi
Pawan Jaipur
Usha Devi –
Dinesh Gupta Gondha, UP
Usha Panday Balrampur, UP
Kajal Devi Balrampur, UP
Maina Devi Balrampur, UP
Radha Devi Delhi
Preeti Gupta UP
Raghav Delhi
Diksha Delhi
Ayush Gupta UP
Geeta Devi UP
Santosh Kumar UP
Shiva Verma UP
Rajat Ram UP
Ajay Gupta UP
Bhawani Shankar Delhi
* Identity of other injured is being established.
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