The owner of the private bus that plunged into a gorge after being fired upon by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district on June 9th has demanded that the driver and teenage conductor, who lost their lives in the attack, be declared ‘martyrs.’ The gruesome incident claimed nine lives and left 41 others injured.
Vijay Kumar (40) and Arun Kumar (19), the driver and conductor respectively, were residents. The passengers on the 53-seater bus, including the seven other victims, hailed from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Delhi. The vehicle was en route from the Shiv Khori temple to the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in Katra when it came under attack from terrorists on Sunday evening.
Sujan Singh, the bus owner, paid tribute to Vijay Kumar, describing him as a gentle soul working for the company for about six years. “I believe that he deliberately plunged the vehicle into the gorge instead of stopping it on the road to prevent terrorists from killing all its occupants,” Singh told PTI in Katra, expressing his conviction that the driver’s actions saved numerous lives.
According to officials and eyewitnesses, Vijay Kumar was the first to be struck by a bullet during the attack. Singh revealed that the driver’s father had passed away six months ago, leaving behind two young children with no other family member to care for them.
The conductor, Arun Kumar, had joined Singh’s transport company only a few days before the fateful attack. He was the sole brother to two sisters in an impoverished family.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration has announced an ex gratia relief of ₹10 lahks each for the victim’s next of kin and ₹50,000 for each injured person. However, Singh’s demand for recognizing the driver and conductor as ‘martyrs’ underscores their immense sacrifice in the line of duty.
The Reasi terror attack has once again brought to the fore the grave security challenges faced in the region and the urgent need for concerted efforts to curb such acts of violence.
