Powered by
Sponsored by

Remembering the 2006 terror attack that Modi mentioned when praising Azad

Four tourists were killed and six others were injured in the attack in Srinagar

ghulam nabi azad pti (File) Ghulam Nabi Azad | PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday showered praise on Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad for helping to arrange for sending the bodies of four Gujarati tourists killed in a grenade attack in Srinagar to Gujarat in 2006. The terror attack was one of the saddest incidents that happened during Azad’s tenure as chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

The incident happened on May 25, 2006. Militants lobbed a grenade at a bus carrying tourists from Gujarat at Batpora, Zakura, in Srinagar at 6pm that day. The bus was on its way to Mughal Gardens, a few kilometres away from the spot where the attack took place.

Four tourists were killed and six others were injured in the attack.

The attack happened hours after then prime minister Manmohan Singh left Kashmir after taking part in a round-table conference at Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC)on the banks of Dal Lake. The tourist bus had to take an alternative route, via Foreshore Road, as the usual Boulevard Road along Dal Lake was closed for traffic due to the Kashmir roundtable conference being held at SKICC.

The tourists killed in the attack were an eight-year-old boy Rabin, his sister Kishna and two teenagers, Khushbu and Fenai. Four of the injured were identified as Gopi, Shivan Kumar, Himant and Ritnesh Kumar. “There was a big bang and after that we knew nothing,” one injured tourist had said after the attack.

The attack was the second big incident that week in which tourists were targeted.

In the first attack, militants had fired on a tourist bus at Soura, killing the driver and injuring four tourists. A day before, six grenade blasts rocked Kashmir. The explosions were aimed at upping the ante ahead of the prime minister’s round-table conference.

The killing of tourists, especially children, created anger in Kashmir. Azad had condemned the attack and ensured treatment for the injured. He also arranged for sending the bodies of the slain tourists to Gujarat by a plane and accompanied the bodies of the victims to the airport.

📣 The Week is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TheWeekmagazine) and stay updated with the latest headlines