NEW DELHI: Stone-pelters in Jammu and Kashmir today targeted a school bus in Kanipora village in Shopian leaving one student of Class II with a head injury and sending the rest into shock, reported agencies.
Police said the injured student was rushed to hospital. There were some 50 children on the bus, some as young as four years old, reported Times Now, which added the bus belonged to one Rainbow International School. An FIR has been filed against those who stoned the bus.
“My son has been injured in stone pelting, this is against humanity. This could have been anyone’s child,” said the father of the students who suffered a head injury, to ANI news agency.
Police said the miscreants will soon be arrested.
“The area has been sanitised, search for stone pelters is underway and they will be arrested soon,” said Shailendra Kumar, senior superintendent of police, Shopian.
J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti and former chief minister Omar Abdullah condemned the incident.
“Shocked & angered to hear of the attack on a school bus in Shopian. The perpetrators of this senseless & cowardly act will be brought to justice,” tweeted Mufti.
Abdullah wondered how targeting children serves any purpose.
“How does pelting stones on school children or tourist buses help advance the agenda of these stone pelters? These attacks deserve our unequivocal condemnation & this tweet is mine,” tweeted Abdullah.
“The 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,” said Abdullah further.
Director general of police SP Vaid called the incident “complete madness”.
“Miscreants pelted stones on school bus of Rainbow School Shopian… resulted in injuries to 2nd class student Rehan. He has been shifted to SKIMS for treatment with head injury. Complete madness how stone pelters are targeting young school children. These criminals will face the law,” tweeted Vaid.
Earlier this month, two buses carrying tourists from Indonesia were pelted with stones near Dal Lake. Prompt action by houseboat owners saved them. As well, two women tourists from Abu Dhabi also suffered head injuries after being hit by stones thrown at their cab near the airport, also earlier this month. And some weeks ago, a mob attacked a tourist bus at Awantipora in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district and threw stones at it, injuring two women from Uttar Pradesh.
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