NOIDA: As gunshots rang out and smoking barrels looked for fresh targets, Meera Sharma crawled up stealthily to her sister behind a tree on a mountain slope and lay still, pretending to be dead.
It was the only way to deceive terrorists hovering on the road above, looking for signs of movement. The 28-year-old resident of Kulesra in Greater Noida and her sister were on their way to Katra in a bus when it was ambushed in Reasi district of Jammu & Kashmir on Sunday evening and sprayed with bullets.“At least 25-30 shots,” Meera told TOI on Monday from her hospital bed in Jammu, where she was admitted with a shrapnel injury to her chest.
A miraculous escape not just from the terror ambush but the bus’s subsequent fall into a gorge. Meera’s sister Laxmi Devi (38) has a gunshot wound in the forearm. Bunty Gupta, a neighbour accompanying them, has a bullet injury on his shoulder.
“After the bus fell into the gorge and the gunshots paused briefly, I saw Bunty coming towards me. He managed to pull me and Laxmi out through the bus’s window and carry us to a nearby tree. As we sat there, we heard firing again. We were bleeding and in intense pain, but we stayed still and pretended to be dead so that we were not discovered by the terrorists,” Meera said.
A housewife, Meera, Laxmi and Bunty had left for Jammu from Delhi in a train on June 6. After visiting the Vaishno Devi shrine on June 8 and Shiv Khouri temple on Sunday morning, they were headed to Katra. “There were bodies around us, some hanging from the trees too. I just prayed it would all be over soon,” Meera said.
Her husband, Rohit (32), who flew to Jammu on Monday evening, said he was just leaving for his office on Monday morning when he got a call from Narayana hospital in the morning about his wife and her sister’s injuries in the attack.
“My children were supposed to accompany Meera to Vaishno Devi but backed out at the last moment. I was scared but doctors later assured me they are out of danger,” he said.
Dr Vikash Padha, a senior orthopaedic surgeon at Narayana, said 14 victims were admitted at the hospital, four of whom had bullet injuries. “Two of them were operated upon on Sunday and two others underwent surgeries on Monday. All the patients are stable,” he said.
Bunty, who runs a canteen in Greater Noida, said the terrorists kept firing for nearly an hour. “A bullet hit me in my shoulder as I tried to take the two wounded sisters to a nearby tree. I had assumed that the terrorists had left, but they got me. I collapsed at the spot,” he said.
As he lay bleeding, Bunty said he tried calling SOS numbers but there was no network. “I dialled 112 and the cop on the other side said they were coming soon. For nearly 30 minutes, I lay there and waited. Gradually, the gunfire stopped,” he said.
ADM (judicial) Noida Bhair Pal Singh, who reached Katra with a team of four officials, said after Bunty managed to climb up the gorge and shout for help, some locals came out and started rescuing people trapped in the bus.
It was the only way to deceive terrorists hovering on the road above, looking for signs of movement. The 28-year-old resident of Kulesra in Greater Noida and her sister were on their way to Katra in a bus when it was ambushed in Reasi district of Jammu & Kashmir on Sunday evening and sprayed with bullets.“At least 25-30 shots,” Meera told TOI on Monday from her hospital bed in Jammu, where she was admitted with a shrapnel injury to her chest.
A miraculous escape not just from the terror ambush but the bus’s subsequent fall into a gorge. Meera’s sister Laxmi Devi (38) has a gunshot wound in the forearm. Bunty Gupta, a neighbour accompanying them, has a bullet injury on his shoulder.
“After the bus fell into the gorge and the gunshots paused briefly, I saw Bunty coming towards me. He managed to pull me and Laxmi out through the bus’s window and carry us to a nearby tree. As we sat there, we heard firing again. We were bleeding and in intense pain, but we stayed still and pretended to be dead so that we were not discovered by the terrorists,” Meera said.
A housewife, Meera, Laxmi and Bunty had left for Jammu from Delhi in a train on June 6. After visiting the Vaishno Devi shrine on June 8 and Shiv Khouri temple on Sunday morning, they were headed to Katra. “There were bodies around us, some hanging from the trees too. I just prayed it would all be over soon,” Meera said.
Her husband, Rohit (32), who flew to Jammu on Monday evening, said he was just leaving for his office on Monday morning when he got a call from Narayana hospital in the morning about his wife and her sister’s injuries in the attack.
“My children were supposed to accompany Meera to Vaishno Devi but backed out at the last moment. I was scared but doctors later assured me they are out of danger,” he said.
Dr Vikash Padha, a senior orthopaedic surgeon at Narayana, said 14 victims were admitted at the hospital, four of whom had bullet injuries. “Two of them were operated upon on Sunday and two others underwent surgeries on Monday. All the patients are stable,” he said.
Bunty, who runs a canteen in Greater Noida, said the terrorists kept firing for nearly an hour. “A bullet hit me in my shoulder as I tried to take the two wounded sisters to a nearby tree. I had assumed that the terrorists had left, but they got me. I collapsed at the spot,” he said.
As he lay bleeding, Bunty said he tried calling SOS numbers but there was no network. “I dialled 112 and the cop on the other side said they were coming soon. For nearly 30 minutes, I lay there and waited. Gradually, the gunfire stopped,” he said.
ADM (judicial) Noida Bhair Pal Singh, who reached Katra with a team of four officials, said after Bunty managed to climb up the gorge and shout for help, some locals came out and started rescuing people trapped in the bus.
