UDHAMPUR, NOVEMBER 24: With four days to go for the beginning of the Ramzan month when the unilateral ceasefire announced by the Government is expected to become effective, suspected Lashkar e-Taiba militants kidnapped six bus passengers from a town in Doda district today morning. Bodies of five of them were discovered later in the evening. Police sources said all those killed were Hindus.The incident has happened three days since five Sikh truck drivers and cleaners were killed on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway.The victims were among the passengers travelling to Kishtwar. Militants had stopped the bus at Patimahal, 90 kms from Doda and asked all of them to come out of the vehicle. The cleaner of the bus, Parkash Chand, was among the dead.Though no militant outfit has so far claimed responsibility for the massacre, police suspect it to be the handiwork of Lashkar e-Toiba, which has refused to accept the ceasefire offered by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee few days ago. The police and security forces has launched a combing operation to track down the killers.This is the second incident of killing of bus passengers in Doda district. Five years ago, militants had killed over a dozen Hindus travelling in a bus near Barshalla, about 30 kms from Doda.The deceased have been identified as Satish Kumar, Bhushan Kumar and Ashok Kumar, all residents of village Gangkuli Ikhala, a Food and Supplies Department employee Romesh Kumar of Palmar and cleaner Parkash Chand.Giving details, sources said the victims along with others were waiting for the bus to leave Patimahal for Kishtwar around 10 am. The area, which is predominantly inhabited by Muslims, has a population of nearly 30,000 people and is surrounded by dense forests.The armed militants reportedly surfaced from the forests and asked the passengers to come out of the bus. Hindus were segregated and six of them kidnapped.The security forces came to know about the abductions from other passengers after two hours and launched combing operations. By evening five bodies were found. The fate of the sixth person, bus stand agent Roshan Lal, is not known.Tension prevailed in Kishtwar town after the news about the kidnapping broke. Senior civil and police officers have rushed in from Doda to take stock of the situation.On Tuesday night, militants had intercepted trucks moving on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway near Banihal and killed five truckers and injured six others belonging to Sikh and Hindu communities. Following the killings, the state government had announced to intensify security to avoid the recurrence of such incidents.
