StatesJammu and Kashmir
Second Srinagar-bound bus stoned in two nights, this time near Ludhiana
A day after a Kashmir bus was attacked at a Haryana dhaba and its driver allegedly called a 'terrorist', men threw stones at another bus from the same operator on the Delhi-Jammu highway in Punjab.
Key points
- A Srinagar-bound sleeper bus was stoned near Ludhiana at about 11 pm on Sunday; no passenger was hurt.
- On Saturday night a bus of the same operator was attacked near Nilokheri in Haryana and two people were injured.
- Haryana Police have arrested two men but rule out a hate crime; Omar Abdullah has asked Haryana to act.
Men threw stones at a Srinagar-bound sleeper bus on the Delhi-Jammu highway near Ludhiana late on Sunday, the second attack in two nights on buses run by the same Kashmir operator as they crossed Haryana and Punjab.
The Volvo bus of Star World Ventures was hit at about 11 pm. “Some people came and threw stones at our bus. Thank God, the passengers are safe,” said its driver, Ishfaq Ahmad. The crew went to Punjab Police, whose personnel escorted the bus for several kilometres before it continued towards Srinagar.
The Nilokheri attack
On Saturday night a bus from the same company, carrying passengers from Jammu and Kashmir, was attacked with stones and bricks outside the Divine Star Dhaba near Nilokheri in Haryana’s Karnal district. A passenger and a dhaba worker were injured. The bus driver alleged that the attackers called him a “terrorist” after seeing the vehicle’s registration number.
Haryana Police say the trouble began as an argument between the bus driver and the driver of a car over parking. Officers reached the dhaba after a call at about 10 pm and detained the two men in a white Maruti Baleno, identified as Mohit and Sawan. Both were arrested on the dhaba manager’s complaint, an FIR was registered at Butana police station and the car was impounded.
Karnal Superintendent of Police Karan Goel said no complaint had been filed by the driver, the conductor or any passenger, and asked people not to believe rumours on social media. Police have ruled out a hate crime.
‘Should never have taken place’
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah condemned the attack and urged Chief Minister Nayab Saini’s government and Haryana Police to act. “This unfortunate incident should never have taken place,” he wrote on X.
His party, the National Conference, went further. Spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar called it a hate crime, said an elderly Kashmiri man was among those hurt and asked Haryana Police to identify and punish everyone involved.
The highway through Haryana and Punjab is the main road link for private buses carrying Kashmiri traders, students and workers between Delhi and the Valley. A second incident within 24 hours on the same route is likely to sharpen the demand from Srinagar for protection for travellers, even as Haryana insists the first was a roadside quarrel.
Punjab Police have not yet said whether they have registered a case over the Ludhiana stoning.