JAMMU: Six persons were killed and 27 injured two of them seriously when a bomb exploded in a mini-bus at Satwant Chowk six km from here on July 16 Meanwhile 21 persons including seven militants and three Border Security Force (BSF) personnel were killed and nearly 50 wounded while a senior police officer escaped an attempt on his life in the Valley. The ill-fated mini bus was coming to Jammu from Kalian via Simple camp. The bomb exploded With overcrowded bus as neared Satwari crossing at 8:15 a.m.
The bomb which was presumably kept in a bag went off in the middle of the bus.
Senior civil and police officials rushed to the spot to direct rescue operations. The injured were taken to the Jammu Medical College by the people of the area and the police.
The impact of the bomb which the experts feel was RDX explosive was so great that limbs of the victims lay scattered all over the bus. The bus was completely damaged.
The driver also lost control of the bus as it went off the road. The dead include four foreign nationals and a self-styled divisional commander of pro-Pakistan Jehad Force while the slain security men include a sub-inspector and a lance naik.
Claiming responsibility for the blast in Jammu a spokesman for the pro-Pakistan Jamait-ul Mujahideen said “this should serve as a warning to the pilgrims intending to visit the Amamath cave shrine in South Kashmir” next month
This was the second bomb blast in Jammu during the past few days. A few days earlier a plastic hand grenade was thrown near Jewel Chowk in which four persons were injured. Out of the six killed in the bomb blast five have been identified. They are Jagbir Singh of Simbai camp Satpal Sharma of Ronan (Kathua) Savita of Badyal (R.S. Pura) Deepak Kumar of Miran Sahib Ved Parkash of Tindey (R.S. Pura).
Article extracted from this publication >> July 22, 1994
