It was a cool morning at 6:15 am when terrorists sent by Pakistan boarded a Himachal Pradesh Road Transport 42-seater bus en route to Jammu from Manali. The bus carried 33 sleepy passengers. Dressed in crisp Army uniforms, complete with regiment badges and name tags, the three men waited at a bus stop along the Pathankot-Jammu highway. After boarding, they purchased tickets and requested to be dropped off near Kaluchak- one of India’s oldest cantonments, located just 19 km away.
Kaluchak Massacre
About half an hour after boarding the bus, the terrorists forced it to stop at gunpoint. They ordered all the passengers to move to the middle of the vehicle. As the frightened passengers huddled together, the militants suddenly opened fire with their AK-56 rifles, killing eight people instantly. The Kaluchak attack came five months after the December 13, 2001 Parliament attack, which had already severely strained relations between India and Pakistan. Mostly women and children of army personnel were killed by the militants. The three terrorists weren’t finished after attacking the bus. They went on to storm the residential quarters meant for Army families and opened fire without mercy.
In their indiscriminate shooting, they killed 31 people, most of them women and children, and severely injured 43 others. Among the victims were Kuldeep Kaur and her newborn daughter, who had not yet been named. The family was waiting for the return of the baby’s father, Subedar Manjit Singh, who was posted at the border and due home in a week. After a tense three-hour gun battle, Army officers at Kaluchak managed to neutralise all three terrorists.
Pakistani Terrorists Massacred 31 Innocent Indians
- 10 children (between the ages of 2 months and 18 years)
- 8 women
- 3 Indian Braves
- 10 civilians
About 47 People Were Wounded, Including:
- 12 Army personnel
20 Army family members
15 civilians
People Martyred
- Two-Month-old Baby Gagan Deep Kaur D/O Battalion Havildar Major Manjeet Singh
- Havildar Roop Chand
- Battalion Havildar Major Manjeet Singh
- Havildar M.S. Chauhan
- Premwati (40 yrs) W/o Sub J.N. Yadav.
- Avlodhan Devi (65yrs)
- M/o Company Quarter Master Havildar (CQMH) RDP Singh
- Muli (6 yrs) D/o CQMH RDP Singh
- Nitu (14 yrs) D/o Havildar H.S Chauhan.
- Raya Chauhan (30 yrs) W/o Havildar Chauhan.
- Lalita Kumari (26 yrs) W/o CQMH R.K. Yadav.
- Amit Yadav (5 yrs) S/o CQMH R.K. Yadav.
- Amandeep Kaur (5 yrs) D/o Subedar Attar Singh
- Jitender Singh (12 yrs) S/o Subedar Attar Singh
- Dimple (18 yrs) D/o Subedar Gurdev Singh.
- Jaswinder Kaur ( 45 Yrs ) W/O Subedar Gurdev Singh
- Joginder Kaur (21 Yrs) W/O Lance Naik Harbhajan Singh
- Devender Singh (3 Yrs) S/O BHM Manjeet Singh
- Baljit Kaur (30 Yrs) W/O Sepoy Gurlal Singh
- Amandeep Kaur (2 Yrs) D/O Sepoy Gurlal Singh
- Punam Devi (38 Yrs) W/O Havildar Surendra Kumar
- Anchal (8 Yrs) D/O Havildar Surendra Kumar.
