Blast at bus stand in J-K's Udhampur city, 2nd one within hours
Udhampur/Jammu(PTI): A blast in a bus parked at a stand in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur city on Thursday morning, the second within a few hours, sent security agencies in a tizzy as they sounded a high alert, sources said.
The roof and the backside of the bus were blown away by the blast that occurred around 5.30 am on Thursday but no one was injured, they said.
The incidents occurred just days ahead of the visit of Union Home Minister Amit Shah starting October 4. He was supposed to embark on a three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir on September 30 and hold public meetings in Rajouri on October 1 and Baramulla on October 2. However, the visit was rescheduled.
On Wednesday night, a blast occurred in an empty bus parked near a petrol pump at Domail Chowk, injuring two people, sources said, adding the bus used to be parked at the spot daily.
The bus on which the second blast occurred had come from Basantgarh in Udhampur district and was on night halt at the bus stand. It was scheduled to leave for Basantgarh in the morning.
DIG of Udhampur-Reasi range Suleman Choudary said two to three buses have suffered damage in the blasts. "The nature of explosives and other things are under investigation. It needs a detailed probe," he said.
The people injured have been questioned and terror angle cannot be ruled out, the police officer said. An alert has been sounded by the police and people have been asked to check their vehicles for any suspicious items.
Personnel of the police and other security forces have cordoned off the bus stand and all vehicles are being checked thoroughly before allowing them to resume services.
All vehicles which left the bus stand before the blast occurred in the morning will be stopped at checkpoints and thoroughly checked, officials said.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
