Car-bus collision leaves four J&K Bank employees dead;Bhim Singh bereaved, CM condoles deaths

Special Correspondent
Jammu: A powerful head- on collision between car and the bus on Monday left four bank employees dead on the spot on Jammu-Kathua National Highway in Kathua district.
“Four bank employees, who were on way towards their branch office in Pathankot including the Branch Manager died in a road accident when their over-speeding car (JK02BL-4097), went out of control and rammed into the Jammu bound Superfast Bus (JK02AK-6181) after crossing the road divider near Sodhi Resort in Barnoti area of Kathua,” police sources here said.
They said that the impact of accident was so powerful that the car got completely damaged and all four occupants died on the spot.
“The bus driver had also tried his best to avoid the tragedy and hit the vehicle with the divider but it had head on collision with the car,” said an eye witness.
Police however, said that locals and rescue team rushed to the spot to evacuate them but all had died on the spot.
“The car was being driven by one of the deceased identified as Mohan Singh (Branch Manager), who is also a close relative of Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party Chief Patron Prof Bhim Singh,” police sources added.
Other deceased persons were identified as Ajay Kumar Koul (Executive), son of Makhan Lal, resident of 100, Govind Nagar, Talab Tillo, Anil Kumar (Executive), son of Lal Chand, resident of Shastri Nagar, Jammu and Rakesh Charak (Associate Executive), son of Sukhdev Singh, resident of village Kolhar, Ratnuchak, Birpur, Samba.
Police however, said that the employees used to travel to the branch office by pooling-in, adding, ”driver caught in a small nap could not be ruled out and it could have cause the mishap”.
Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti on Monday expressed grief and shock over the death of four employees of J&K Bank who were killed in a road accident on Jammu-Pathankot highway in Barnoti area of Kathua.
Mehbooba conveyed her sympathies with the bereaved families and prayed for peace to the departed souls.
Jammu and Kashmir Bank family across the country held condolence meetings to mourn the deaths of their colleagues.
An official handout said that they were on way to duty at Business Unit Pathankot when they met the tragic accident.
A condolence meeting was led by the Chairman and CEO, Parvez Ahmed at the bank’s corporate headquarters.
Parvez Ahmed later attended the funeral of the deceased.
He on behalf of entire J&K Bank family expressed his grief and sympathy with the bereaved families and prayed for eternal peace to the departed souls.
Minister for Finance, Dr Haseeb Drabu also expressed shock and grief over the death of four employees of J&K Bank.
While expressing anguish over the death of the bank employees, Dr. Drabu prayed for eternal peace to the departed souls and expressed solidarity with the bereaved families and the management of the Bank over the tragic loss.
Expressing solidarity with the bereaved family, Dr Drabu, in his condolence message, prayed for eternal peace to the departed soul.
Prof Bhim Singh, Senior Advocate of Supreme Court expressed deep shock on the accidental death of his nephew (Mohan Singh). In a meeting at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi on Monday afternoon, Prof. Bhim Singh with his colleagues, lawyers and others held a condolence meeting and expressed grief and shock on the death of Mohan Singh and his colleagues near Kathua.
JKNPP Chairman and former minister Harsh Dev Singh, Panthers Party President Balwant Singh Mankotia visited Kathua to get the body of their ward (Mohan Singh) while bankers from across the state also rushed to the spot.