Toddler, mother among victims

Jaipur, June 10

Mamta and Rajendra Saini’s three children are waiting for their parents’ return from a Vaishno Devi pilgrimage. They will never come back.

Cloth merchant Rajendra Saini (42), his wife Mamta (40), their relative Pooja Saini (30) and her two-year-old son Titu are among the nine killed after terrorists opened fire at a bus carrying pilgrims in Jammu’s Reasi district on Sunday evening.

The couple’s two sons, one of them a minor, and daughter have been told that their parents were injured in a road accident in Jammu and they were being brought to Jaipur for treatment, the relatives said.

Pooja Saini’s husband Pavan (32) has been injured, a police officer said.

While Rajendra and Mamta were residents of Chomu town near Jaipur, Pavan and Pooja were from Ajmera ki Dhani in the Harmada area on Chomu Road. Residents of the two areas were stunned into silence upon receiving the news of the deaths.

“We came to know last night that the bus had fallen into a ditch and it was an accident. But today we came to know that terrorists had attacked the bus and it fell into a gorge,” said a relative of Rajendra Saini.

She said Rajendra’s children do not know the truth yet. “They only know that their parents are injured and are being brought here. Rajendra was the sole earning member,” she added.

In Ajmera ki Dhani, just a few kilometres from Chomu, family members are mourning the death of Pooja and her two-year-old kid. Pooja was married to Pawan, who runs an e-Mitra shop in the village, four years ago.

Chomu Tehsildar Vijaypal said post-mortem has been conducted in J&K and the bodies will be brought to Jaipur. Efforts will be made to get the affected families the benefit of various state government schemes, he said.

Financial assistance to the family will be provided as per the Rajasthan government norms and donors will be motivated to support the orphaned children, the tehsildar said.