10 Punjab youth held for bid to hijack tourist bus

Ten youth from Punjab’s Gurdaspur district — all in the age group of 20 to 35 years — were arrested by the Himachal Pradesh Police after they made an alleged aborted attempt to hijack a tourist bus from Khajjiar — a popular tourists spot in Chamba.

According to reports received from Chamba,the youth had entered into a scuffle with locals at Khajjiar Lake,triggered by unauthorised parking at the spot. Sensing trouble,they abandoned their Scorpio — in which they had travelled from Punjab — and forced the driver of a tourist bus to help them escape. They were allegedly carrying sharp-edged weapons.

Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) S R Mardi said: “The police intercepted the tourist bus near Chawari — about 40 km from Khajjiar — and arrested all the youth. There were 15 Gujarati tourists in the bus.” The bus was bearing the registration number of Jammu and Kashmir.

Local Congress MLA Kuldeep Pathania,who is also the PCC chief spokesman,said he has submitted a call attention motion to Speaker Tulsi Ram to raise the issue in the House on Wednesday. “It is a serious incident in the light of the Babbar Khasla group being active in Punjab. The youth were carrying weapons.”