Bus owner seeks martyr status for driver, conductor

Reasi, June 11

Sujan Singh, the owner of the private bus that was ambushed by terrorists in Reasi on Sunday evening, has demanded the status of martyr for the driver Vijay Kumar and teenage conductor Arun Kumar for averting an even more terrible catastrophe by plunging the vehicle into a gorge to escape the raining bullets.

Singh also highlighted the need for taking care of the poor families of the victims and security on the Shiv Khori route, given the heavy pilgrim flow to the temple, which is over 80 km from Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in Katra.

“Vijay was like a family to me, the gentlest, and always smiling. He had been working with me for about six years and I believe that he deliberately plunged the vehicle into the gorge instead of stopping it on the road to allow terrorists to kill all its occupants. A major catastrophe was thus averted,” Sujan Singh said.

“Arun was just 19 and the only brother of three sisters. This family is very poor,” Sujan Singh said.