Eyewitnesses spot militants at Reasi attack site, search underway

SRINAGAR — Two militants were seen at the Reasi militant attack scene by eyewitnesses on Sunday while a search operation is underway in the area.

As per the local news agency Kashmir Scroll, SSP Reasi Mohita Sharma said that the militants fired upon the bus yesterday. Nine people reportedly died and 33 were injured and are being treated in different hospitals.

Among those killed are Vijay Kumar, 40, a driver who resided in Dasanoo, Rajbagh Pouni. Arjun Kumar, 30, the conductor, was also killed. He lived in Kandera Katra. Anurag Verma, 14, and Ruby, 23, were both residents of Balrampur Uttar Pradesh. Pooja Sawhney, wife of Pawan Sawhney, resided in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Details on residency were also released for Sorab Gupta, Rajinder Parsad Sawhney, Mamta Sawhney, and their two-year-old son Titu Sawhney, all from Uttar Pradesh.

Those injured in the attack include Bunty Gupta, 30, from Greater Noida UP, Meera Sharma, 28, residing in Village Raya Tehsil Matt District Mathura UP, and Pawan, 19, from Nacchi Patak Jaipur Rajasthan. Dinesh Gupta, 25, of Gonda Kanpur UP, Usha Pandey, 42, from Bhagat Pur Balrampur UP, and Ajay Gupta, 48, resident of Khalilabad, were also identified as injured.

Bhawani Shankar, Rajit Ram, Kajal, Radha, Laxmi Devi, Usha Devi, Mayana Devi, Ayush Gupta, Preeti Gupta, Raghav, Geeta Devi, Diksha, Santosh Kumar, Shiva Verma, Pawan Kumar, Danish Kumar, Rajesh Kumar, Rajesh Gupta, Devi Parsad Dutta, Vikas Verma, Ruksana, Gayatri Devi, Neelam Gupta, Bimbla Devi, Palak Gupta, Prince Gupta, Atul Kumar Mishra, Neha Mishra, Sharda Devi, Tarun Kumar, Shivani Gupta, Deepak Kumar, Pardeep Kumar, Soni Devi, and Bitan Gupta were also identified as having sustained injuries. They hail from various locations across Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Gorakhpur.

As per eyewitnesses, two (militants) were there who carried out the attack while a combing operation was underway in the area and five teams have been formed to search the area, officials said.

They said that the eyewitness disclosed, “Terrorists fired on the bus and shot the driver first, while firing lasted for approximately 20 minutes.” They saw a militant in front of the bus.

Officials said that a cordon and search operation by the Army with Police is going on while NIA is likely to take over the investigation of the Reasi attack.