Reasi terror attack: Bus manager recounts horror, says driver sacrificed life to save passengers

A travel booking company manager whose bus was targeted by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi recounted the attack and revealed that the driver sacrificed his life for the safety of passengers by refusing to deboard them.

At least 10 people lost their lives and 33 were wounded after the bus rolled down a gorge in Reasi district on Sunday (Jun 9) after being fired upon by terrorists. The victims were Hindu pilgrims.

The bus, en route from Shiv Khori temple to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine at Katra, was targeted by terrorists at around 6:10 pm when it reached the Pouni area.

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"The bus used to ply from Katra to Shiv Khori daily, booking occurred daily. But we had never thought that this could happen to our vehicle,"news agency ANI quoted manager Ranjit Singh as saying.

"We used to hear of things like this in Kashmir but this area was safe. We never thought that this could happen to us. As soon as the bus left in the morning, we received a call at 5 o'clock that there had been firing on our vehicle...When we did a little investigation, we came to know that it was an attack by militants," Singh said.

"Passengers told us that the militant got into the bus and told the driver to make the passengers deboard the bus. The driver sensed that the man was a militant.

"He refused to make the passengers deboard, he sped up the bus. As soon as he sped up the bus, the militant fired a bullet," Singh said.

"The bus lost balance but the driver kept driving. When the driver didn't stop, he (militant) shot him in the head and killed him...Then the conductor took hold of the steering. As soon as he did that, the militant shot 3-4 bullets at the conductor too. He killed them both. The bus lost balance and fell into a gorge", he added.

Had the driver not shown his presence of mind, no passenger aboard the vehicle would have survived, Singh said.

"They might have even set the bus on fire. The driver did well and sacrificed himself for the 40 passengers", he said.

Reasi police release sketch of terrorist, announce reward

Meanwhile, Reasi police announced a reward of two million rupees (23,921.66 USD) for any fruitful information about the whereabouts of terrorists involved in the recent attack on the bus carrying Hindu pilgrims.

The sketch of the militant has been prepared based on details and description provided by eyewitnesses.

(With inputs from agencies)