New Delhi: Rajinder Prasad Saini had no inkling that his trip to Vaishno Devi would end tragically. The Jaipur resident, his wife, daughter and two-year-old grandson were killed in the terrorist attack in Reasi district of Jammu, while his son-in-law Pawan Saini is battling for life in a Jammu hospital.
Sources in Reasi district administration told ThePrint that Rajinder along with his wife Mamta, daughter Pooja and her husband Pawan along with the toddler were on a bus that fell into a gorge Sunday after the driver was hit by bullets.
The driver-conductor duo Vijay and Arun Kumar, who hailed from Reasi district, were also among those killed in the terrorist attack. Currently, the toll stands at nine dead and 42 injured, as per the list of victims prepared by the district administration. Thirty-five of the injured are from Uttar Pradesh.
An offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), The Resistance Front (TRF) has claimed in social media the responsibility for the attack on the bus carrying over 50 pilgrims.
Hailing from Uttar Pradesh’s Balrampur district, Rajat Verma and his cousin Bimla Devi suffered minor injuries. But Rajat lost his young son Anurag while Bimla Devi’s daughter Ruby, too, perished in this terrorist attack.
ThePrint had reported that Reasi Senior Superintendent of Police Mohita Sharma had first indicated that there were pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh on the bus. The list of the injured admitted at hospitals in Reasi, Katra and Jammu confirm that the bus had more than 50 non-local pilgrims.
‘Sole breadwinner, slowed down bus’
Tilak Raj said that his cousin Vijay was driving pilgrims for the last 20 years between Katra and Shiv Khori temple in Reasi district and that the bus was going towards Katra when some individuals waved their hands to stop.
“Looking at the people, Vijay slowed down the bus which was quickly followed by a hail of bullets from the militant side. My brother has died of bullet injuries as he got hit with two bullets — one in the head and another below the waist,” Raj told ThePrint over the phone.
40-year-old Vijay is survived by his two sons aged five and two years and his wife.
“Vijay had three brothers and one sister. He worked in Reasi, and the family does not have other sources of income. Only Vijay used to earn. We have taken the body and brought it to our ancestral village Panassa in Reasi for final rites,” Raj said as he broke down.
The Reasi SSP had said Sunday that the bus rolled down into a deep gorge as the driver lost control after coming in front of a gun assault.
Reasi Deputy Commissioner Vishesh Paul Mahajan said that the district administration has got in touch with district magistrates and other competent authorities to enable the families of the victims to take the bodies back home.
“We contacted DMs of the districts from where victims had come from and are trying our best to hand over the bodies so that they can perform last rites. Today, all the four bodies of the Jaipur family have been handed over to their family members who had arrived to receive them,” DC Mahajan told ThePrint.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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