Day 1 Reasi bus attack: Search operation underway, no trace of perpetrators.

GNS ONLINE NEWS PORTAL

SHYAM SOOD

Day 1 Reasi bus attack: Search operation underway, no trace of the perpetrators.

RAJOURI JUNE 10:–After attack on soldiers, Army /IAF Vehicles in Poonch & Rajouri districts on May 4 and December 21 (in 2023), a highly trained group of Pakistani PAFF/JeM terrorists again struck in Reasi district and targeted a bus carrying pilgrims from Shiv Khori Holy cave to Vaishno Devi on Sunday.
Nine persons, including seven pilgrims from Rajasthan and UP, were killed while43 non-locals were injured and are under treatment in hospitals in Jammu and at Katra.
Like in the past the terrorists seem to have once again escaped with the help of local guides (OGWs) from pre-planned escape routes taking advantage of tough terrain & dense forests.
Eyewitnesses claimed to have seen two terrorists who targeted the bus from front and one side and continued to fire on the passengers & bus to inflict maximum casualties despite the pilgrims were screaming for help.
As per routine exercise additional forces were rushed to the incident site to cordon the entire area in search of perpetrators using advanced surveillance instruments, including drones, helicopters, but without any success even after more than 18 hours of the attack.
Advance technology is very effective in tracing & tracking the terrorists but it is also important to reconstruct human intelligence at grassroot level for better intelligence for the elimination of the perpetrators.
It is very painful that despite being equipped with armoured vehicles, best personal weapons, effective intelligence grid, tangible surveillance over terror ecosystem etc, no contact has been established yet with terrorists involved in repeated attacks on army/IAF and civil vehicles in these three districts of Jammu province.
Reliable sources said that 4-5 terrorist groups, mostly foreigners, are operating in Rajouri and Poonch districts.
DIG Udhampur-Reasi Range after a visit to the bus attack site said that 11 teams have been constituted and fanned out to track the terrorists involved in the bus attack.
He has not ruled out arrest/detention of suspects for questioning in this connection.
Meanwhile, Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday chaired a high-level security review meeting.
“I assured the people that those behind the attack on pilgrims in Reasi and those aiding and abetting them will be punished,” said Lt Governor.