 Early Times Report
Jammu, May 17: To investigate all theories related to the Katra bus fire incident, officers of the Jammu and Kashmir Police are working round the clock to solve this case as early as possible.
Highly placed sources said that the initial investigation conducted by the police suggested that it was an accidental fire that engulfed the ill-fated vehicle on Friday.
“The ill-fated vehicle was a single-door bus so passengers could not escape unhurt as the devastating fire engulfed the vehicle within no time”, sources said. Within minutes after the tragic incident, the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Mukesh Singh who is also holding the charge of Inspector General of Police (IGP) Jammu zone immediately rushed to the spot to supervise the investigation.
ADGP Mukesh Singh, who has earlier served in the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has himself started an investigation into this case.
According to ADGP, the site examination does not hint at any blast while detailed investigations are undergoing to ascertain the exact cause of the fire. FSL team also visited the spot to ascertain the cause of the fire.
The single door passenger bus, bearing registration number JK14-1831, caught fire from the engine area which soon engulfed the whole bus with a result four passengers were charred to death while 24 others sustained serious burn injuries.
Identities of all the four deceased have been established through some documents and identification by their relatives. Four deceased including three pilgrims of Mata Vaishno Devi and one local woman.
The four deceased have been identified as Laxmi, in her 30s, from Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh, Meena Devi, 40, of Pamote village in Katra; Bagheswar Chouhan, 55, of Gazipur in UP and his three-year-old grandson Shivam Chouhan.
Four persons were killed and 24 others injured when the moving bus, mostly ferrying devotees, caught fire near Nomai, about 3km from Katra, shortly after leaving for Jammu on Friday. |
