Stone throwers targeted school bus in Shopian in south Kashmir on Wednesday
It was sheer courage and presence of mind of the driver that saved the 50 odd children in the school bus that was targeted by stone throwers in south Kashmir's Shopian, on Wednesday morning.
The children were scared and they started crying said the driver of the bus, whose name has not been revealed due to security reasons. "I sped as soon as I realised stones were being pelted at the bus. I tried my best to save the students," the driver of the school bus told news agency ANI.
The bus carrying children of the Rainbow International School faced a hail of stones while passing through Kanipora area in Shopian.
Stone throwers "gheraoed the school bus and hurled stones at it" said Shailendra Kumar, senior police officer. "The area has been sanitised and a search for the stone throwers is still on; they will be arrested soon," Mr Kumar added.
Among the two boys injured, one was sent home yesterday after treatment but the other boy, a Class 2 student who was seriously injured is still in a multi-specialty hospital in Srinagar.
"My son has been injured in stone pelting and this is against humanity. This could have been anyone's child. They are so innocent and this thing (stone-pelting) is very bad. Such incidents should not happen to children," the father of the boy told ANI.
There was immediate condemnation across the political spectrum.
The chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti tweeted, "Shocked and angered to hear of the attack on a school bus in Shopian. The perpetrators of this senseless and cowardly act will be brought to justice.
The leader of National Conference Omar Abdullah tweeted, "How does pelting stones on school children or tourist buses help advance the agenda of these stone pelters?" He also said, "Amnesty granted to stone-pelters was meant to encourage more reasonable behaviour but some of these goons are determined to use the opportunity given to them to just pelt more stones."
More incidents of stone throwing were reported on Wednesday from Shopian. A group of youngsters gathered near an encounter site and started throwing stones at the security forces, the police said.
One person was killed and four others were injured during clashes with security forces who were engaged in an encounter with terrorists. The security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Turkwangam village of Shopian, after a tip-off about presence of terrorists there, the police said.
(With inputs from ANI)