CMs Azad, Modi coordinated to transport bodies of Gujarat tourists

Srinagar: The incident that PM Modi recounted in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday to praise Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad happened in May 2006. Azad was CM of Jammu and Kashmir and Modi his counterpart in Gujarat when the duo coordinated for quickly transporting the bodies of four Gujarati tourists who were killed in a grenade attack on the outskirts of Srinagar.

The attack took place on May 25, 2006, near Batapora when militants lobbed a grenade on a bus carrying tourists from Gujarat who were on their way to Mughal Gardens on the shores of Dal Lake and foothills of Zabarwan mountains. Four tourists were killed and six injured in the attack. “Several attacks took place in Kashmir that year, especially in May… Mr Modi and Mr Azad took lot of pains to ensure that everything was arranged quickly. They talked over phone in detail,” said the then J&K DGP Gopal Sharma. Azad accompanied the bodies to the airport, where arrangements were made to airlift them. The attack was carried out a few hours after PM Manmohan Singh departed from Srinagar after attending a round table conference at the International Convention Centre. The tourists had to take an alternate route to Mughal Gardens as the main boulevard and foreshore roads were closed for public transport due to the conference.

A few days earlier, IG K Rajendra was injured in another attack when he was overseeing security arrangements for a rally Azad was scheduled to address. The same week, Srinagar witnessed a string of six grenade blasts. “Militants had stepped up their activity in May 2006 as the round table was scheduled to happen in Srinagar,” he told ET.