Excelsior Correspondent
UDHAMPUR, Oct 10: Three persons, including a cop, received burn injuries when a truck was attacked with a petrol bomb at Shiv Nagar area near Udhampur town, late last night while acting swiftly, Police arrested four miscreants in this connection.
The injured were rushed to District Hospital Udhampur where doctors referred two of them to Government Medical College Hospital Jammu. However, keeping in view of their serious condition, the duo was further referred to AIIMS New Delhi for the advanced treatment.
Even as the accused fled the scene after their attack on truck, CCTV footage helped Police to nab two of them, who revealed the identity of two more persons. “Total four accused have so far been arrested and booked under various Sections of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) including under the section of inciting communal tension in the State,” said Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, Deputy Commissioner, Udhampur.
Director General of Police, K Rajendra also rushed to Udhampur this evening and held a meeting with senior officers for taking stock of the situation following the incident. He is learnt to have directed the officers to keep a strict vigil on the situation and take action against the rumour mongers.
The incident took place around 11.50 pm, last night when the Kashmir bound truck, bearing registration number JK03D-1142 with three persons on the board, was intercepted by the accused near Hotel Dolphin at Shiv Nagar when it was on way from Jammu to Srinagar. The miscreants broke front glass of the truck and threw a petrol bomb on the vehicle setting it on fire. Two of three persons inside truck received serious burn injuries even as the third one escaped unhurt. However, a Policeman, who tried to help douse the fire, also received some burn injuries in the incident.
The injured driver and conductor of the truck, identified as Showkat Ahmed (35), son of Ghulam Mohammad Dar of Bijbehara Anantnag and Zahid Ahmed Bhat (19), son of Ghulam Rasool of Anantnag, were rushed to District Hospital Udhampur where doctors referred them to GMC Hospital Jammu. However, keeping in view of their critical condition, they were further referred to AIIMS New Delhi today. Zahid Ahmad has sustained 70 percent burn injuries while Showkat Ahmad got 40 percent burns on his body. Their third associate, who helped them to come out of the truck, was identified as Rameez Ahmed Bhat.
As the entire incident was recorded on the CCTVs, installed outside the hotels near the site, Police identified two attackers and arrested them soon after the incident. By the wee hours of this morning, two more accused were also arrested. They were identified as Harish son of Chunni Lal Katoch, Bal Bahadur son of Girdhari Lal, Sandoor Singh son of Thakur and Suneet Singh son of Pardeep Singh, all residents of Udhampur.
The accused have been booked and an FIR No 368/2015 has been lodged under Sections 307/336/436/147/148/ 120-B/427 RPC and 3/5 of Explosives Substances Act. Further investigation in the matter is going on, Police said and added that more arrests are likely in this case.
Reports said that the same group of accused had earlier tried to attack a Tavera vehicle on the By Pass road but the driver had managed to escape along with vehicle.
Meanwhile, the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries today condemned an attack on Kashmir borne truck in Udhampur by miscreants and urged their Jammu counterparts to disassociate themselves from “communal elements”.
Addressing a press conference here, the representatives of Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA), Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Federation (KTMF) and Federation of Chambers of Industries of Kashmir (FCIK) expressed their anguish against the attack on truckers and said that these incidents are aimed to scuttle the economy of Valley.
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