As terrorists rained fire on the bus filled with passengers, 21-year-old Saurav Gupta, who was also travelling in the same bus, was en route to Katra in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Undeterred by the incoming gunfire, Saurvav told everyone on the bus to get down as it was under attack.
While showing exemplary courage, he was struck by a bullet that pierced the back of his neck, causing his death. Saurav was among the nine pilgrims killed in Sunday’s terror attack in Jammu’s Reasi district.
His body was brought to Delhi in an ambulance by his father, Kuldeep Gupta, and other family members. He was cremated near his home in northeast Delhi’s Mandoli area on Tuesday.
Saurav had travelled to the Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu with his wife, Shivani Gupta, to pray for a baby. The couple, who had been married for two years, had planned to return home later that same day.
“She saw her husband die in front of her eyes. She was inconsolable,” said Manoj Gupta, Saurav’s uncle.
According to Manoj, Saurav was a brave man, standing 6 feet tall and with a strong build. “He was sitting behind the driver in a window seat when the terrorists attacked their bus. As soon as the firing began, he raised an alarm but was shot,” Manoj added.
The bullet struck Saurav in the back of his neck as he sat by the window. “His wife, Shivani Gupta, escaped unhurt in the attack but sustained fractures in her legs and face when the bus fell into a gorge,” he added.
Saurav, who lost his mother at the age of three, is survived by his wife, his father, who works in an export house, and a younger brother who is studying at college. Saurav himself also worked at an export house in the Gandhi Nagar area.
Meanwhile, as per reports, police teams have zeroed in on the location of local associates involved in the attack, and searches for hiding terrorists have been further intensified in the region.
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