SRINAGAR, July 28: Mystery persists in the tourist van explosion case in South Kashmir’s Anantnag area which killed three people and left five others wounded on Saturday.
While a police statement said the deaths were caused due to a gas cylinder explosion in the vehicle which was moving from Srinagar to tourist resort Pahalgam, doctors and the victims have a different tale to tell.
A victim, Neeta Jeetwah who has received injuries in the leg says “something” was thrown into the vehicle through the window.
“We were just talking about Pahalgam and how it would be like there when something from outside fell into the vehicle. There was a sudden explosion,” she told the Indian Express.
Doctors say none of the victims had burn injuries, which would be expected in case of a cylinder explosion.
“We have been dealing with such cases for decades now,” a doctor, pleading anonymity, told the newspaper.
“This doesn’t seem an injury by a gas cylinder explosion,” he said.
The van had a few splinter marks on the door and the front glass and a big hole in the floor the only sign of damage.
Three Mumbai women, Indu Bhae, Nisha Jeetwah and Nirmala Rathore died in the incident.
The injured include Bharti wife of Ashwini Kumar, Neeta Jeetwah wife of Bharat Jeetwah, Preetama Jeetwah wife of Vinod Jeetwah, Jayshri Desai wife of Arun Kumar and Jaswanti Thakur wife of Vasant Thakur.
The incident coincides with the visit of Defence Minister A.K. Antony who is in the valley to review the overall security situation. According to media reports Antony was to also discuss removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from parts of the state.
Kashmir is witnessing a booming tourist season with visitors from across the country and abroad flocking to the scenic Himalayan state like never before. Tourism is picking up after more than two decades of violence involving security forces and militants which killed tens of thousands in the valley.
