NIA team reaches J&K to probe into Reasi terror attack; set to coordinate with local police

Officials said nine people, including a two-year-old boy from Rajasthan and a 14-year-old from Uttar Pradesh, died in the attack.

An NIA team has reached Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district and is coordinating with local police probing into the terror attack on a passenger bus that left nine people dead and several injured, officials said on Monday.

The bus veered off into a deep gorge after gunshots near the Teryath village of the Poni area on Sunday. (PTI)

Meanwhile, security forces have also launched a massive cordon and search operation to track down the terrorists responsible for the attack.

A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team has reached Reasi and is coordinating with the local police probing into the attack, the officials said.

Terrorists opened fire at the 53-seater bus, on its way from the Shiv Khori temple to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Katra, causing it to veer off the road and fall into a deep gorge near the Teryath village of the Poni area on Sunday. The bus was ferrying pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi.

Pakistan-based terror outfit, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) took credit for this attack on Sunday evening, reported Hindustan Times. LeT's front TRF owned up to the attack to show that the terrorists were from J&K and not Lahore-based foreign Islamists, the report said.

Officials said nine people, including a two-year-old boy from Rajasthan and a 14-year-old from Uttar Pradesh, died in the attack.

PM Narendra Modi has asked Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to closely monitor and attend to the affected families, according to a Hindustan Times report. An ex-gratia of ₹10 lakh was announced by LG for the victim's next of kin and ₹50,000 each for those injured in the terror attack, Hindustan Times reported.

They added that 41 people aged between three and 50 were injured in the ambush. Of them, 10 suffered gunshot injuries.