What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
JAMMU: Pakistan-backed terrorist group The Resistance Front (TRF) which is an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba has claimed responsibility for the terror attack on a bus carrying pilgrims in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district on Sunday, which resulted in nine deaths and 33 injuries. In a message, the TRF warned of more attacks targeting “tourists and non-locals,” calling the Reasi incident just “the beginning of a renewed start.”
A massive search operation has been launched to trace the terrorists. Security has been tightened in the area, with Home Ministry sources informing India Today that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has been assigned to investigate the attack.
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The incident occurred when the bus was returning from Shiv Khori shrine en route to Katra, the base camp of the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine. Terrorists ambushed the vehicle from a nearby forest, opening fire. The bus driver was hit by a bullet and lost control, causing the vehicle to roll down the gorge. Both the bus driver and the conductor were killed in the attack.
Sources told The New Indian that two to three terrorists were involved in the Reasi bus attack. These terrorists are believed to be part of the same group that carried out other attacks in Rajouri and Poonch over the past month. They were hiding in the dense vegetation and ambushed the bus on Sunday. The terrorists, who have not yet been contacted, have fled Reasi.
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According to sources, terrorists were Pakistanis from the same group active in the south of the Pir Panjal region for the past two years. As part of the search operation, drones are being used to survey the dense vegetation around the attack site. Additionally, a team from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) has joined the operation.
Some of the victims have been identified. Most were from Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The driver and conductor, who died in the attack, were both from Reasi. Among the injured, 34 are from Uttar Pradesh, five from Delhi, and two from Rajasthan.
Survivors of the attack told The New Indian that the terrorists continued firing at the bus even after it fell into the gorge. One survivor reported that the terrorists came down into the gorge and continued firing for several minutes as passengers pretended to be dead.
Police evacuated the passengers by 8:10 pm with the help of local villagers. The Reasi Superintendent of Police supervised the evacuation and rushed the injured to various hospitals. A joint operation headquarters of the police, Indian Army, and CRPF was established at the site, launching a multi-dimensional operation to apprehend the attackers.
