As an operation is underway to apprehend the perpetrators of the attack on the pilgrim bus in Reasi, authorities have identified the nine victims of the incident.
Four of the deceased were pilgrims from Rajasthan, including a two-year-old boy, and three were from Uttar Pradesh.
The fatalities included Vijay Kumar from Dassanoo in Reasi, who was driving the bus, and Arun Kumar, a bus conductor from Kandayar, Katra.
Ten people with gunshot wounds are among the 41 pilgrims, mostly from Uttar Pradesh, currently receiving treatment in hospitals across the Jammu and Reasi districts, officials reported.
Militants opened fire on the bus carrying pilgrims in Reasi district at approximately 6:10 PM on Sunday, resulting in nine deaths and several injuries. The attack occurred in the Taryath area near the Kalakote tehsil of Rajouri district, an area surrounded by forests and mountains.
Security agencies suspect that the assailants, believed to be operating in the Rajouri and Poonch districts and responsible for previous attacks last year, managed to escape after the shooting.
The 53-seater bus, en route from the Shiv Khori temple to Katra, veered off the road following the gunfire and fell into a deep gorge near the Teryath village in the Poni area.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Reasi), Vishesh Paul Mahajan, confirmed that all nine victims, including the bus driver and conductor, have been identified. Vijay Kumar was from the Dasanoo Rajbagh village, while Arun Kumar hailed from the Kandera village in Katra, both in Reasi district.
The other victims are identified as Rajinder Prasad Pandey Sawhney, Mamta Sawhney, Pooja Sawhney, and her two-year-old son Titu Sawhney, all from Jaipur, Rajasthan, as well as Shivam Gupta, Ruby, and 14-year-old Anurag Verma from Uttar Pradesh. The district administration is in the process of sending the bodies to their respective states.
Mahajan noted that 41 people, aged between three and 50, were injured in the attack, with 10 suffering gunshot wounds.
They are stable after undergoing surgeries. Eighteen injured are being treated at the Government Medical College in Jammu, 14 at Narayana Hospital, and nine at the district hospital in Reasi. Among the injured, 34 are from Uttar Pradesh, five from Delhi, and two from Rajasthan.
Authorities have established a round-the-clock helpline for information and assistance regarding the victims of the bus attack. The helpline numbers are 01991-245639, 01991-245076, 0191-2542000, and 9419839557.