A Srinagar bound private bus was allegedly attacked with stones near Doraha in Punjab’s Ludhiana district late Sunday night, a day after another bus operated by the same company was attacked in Haryana’s Karnal district, leaving an elderly passenger injured.
According to bus driver Ishfaq Ahmad, unidentified persons pelted the vehicle with stones around 11 pm on the Delhi-Jammu highway near Ludhiana, smashing its windowpanes. Passengers, including women and children, were reportedly asleep when the incident occurred. No injuries were reported in the Ludhiana incident, according to reports.
The bus is operated by Star World Ventures, a company that also operated the vehicle attacked in Haryana on Saturday night. In that incident, a Delhi-Srinagar sleeper bus was targeted with stones and bricks near a roadside eatery in Nilokheri, Karnal district, on October 17. An elderly passenger was injured, and several windowpanes were damaged.
The Karnal incident prompted Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to seek action against those responsible. While the bus driver alleged that the attackers used abusive language and referred to the vehicle’s occupants as terrorists, Haryana Police attributed the confrontation to a dispute over parking and giving way. Police detained two suspects in connection with the incident.
The second reported attack has renewed concerns over the safety of passengers travelling between northern Indian states and Jammu and Kashmir. The circumstances and motive behind the Ludhiana incident remain to be established.