J&K terror attack: MHA hands over probe to NIA

Nine people, including three women were killed, and 41 injured as a bus carrying pilgrims plunged into a deep gorge after an ambush by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district on June 9.

New Delhi: The Union Home Ministry on Monday handed over the probe into the recent terror attack on a bus in Jammu and Kashmir to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), officials said.

Nine people, including three women were killed, and 41 injured as a bus carrying pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi plunged into a deep gorge after an ambush by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district on June 9.

The terrorists opened fire at the 53-seater bus when it was enroute from Shiv Khori temple to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine at Katra.

The investigation into the June 9 terror attack on a bus in Jammu and Kashmir has been handed over to the NIA, an official said.

The decision came a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir and preparations for the annual Amarnath yatra in two back-to-back meetings.

The meetings were called in the wake of the terror attack on the bus in Reasi district and a few other terror incidents in the Union Territory.

On June 11, terrorists fired at a joint check post of the Rashtriya Rifles and police at Chattergalla in Bhaderwah while a search party in the Gandoh area of Doda district was attacked on June 12, resulting in injuries to seven security personnel, including a policeman.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi too reviewed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir on June 13 where he directed officials to deploy the "full spectrum of counter-terror capabilities" after a spate of terror incidents, including the attack on the bus carrying pilgrims.

Shah on Sunday said the fight against terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir is in its decisive phase and recent incidents show that terrorism has been forced to shrink from highly organised acts of violence to a mere proxy war.

He also directed security agencies to implement area domination and zero-terror plans in the Jammu division like they did in Kashmir to achieve success.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha, Army Chief General Manoj Pande, Army Chief-designate Lt. General Upendra Dwivedi, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, Director of Intelligence Bureau Tapan Deka, CRPF Director General Anish Dayal Singh, BSF Director General Nitin Agarwal, Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police R R Swain and other top security officials attended both the meetings held by Shah.