The Jaish-e-Mohammad militant crashed his explosive-laden car into a CRPF convoy
03.30am
THURSDAY: Around 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in 78 vehicles, including buses and bullet-proof vehicles, leave Channi Rama transit in Jammu for Bakshi Stadium transit camp in Srinagar to travel further to their respective camps. The number of security personnel travelling was high as there was no traffic allowed on the Jammu-Srinagar highway for the past one week due to heavy snowfall.
03.30pm-3.35pm
The convoy approaches Latoomode in Awantipora of south Kashmir, when a vehicle driven by the Jaish-e-Mohammad militant Adil Ahmad Dar starts following the convoy. He apparently drives up to the highway from a road linking nearby villages to the highway.
03.37pm
Dar drives along with convoy for a few minutes and then
crashes his vehicle, laden with large amounts of explosives, into unarmored bus, belonging to the 76th battalion of the force. At least 40 personnel were on board. Such was the impact that the bus turned into a mangled heap of iron. The bus was in the middle of the convoy.
03.38pm
An exchange of fire takes place. It is not clear whether the firing was initiated by militants, the road opening party or forces accompanying the convey. No injuries are reported.
03.40pm
The quick reaction team of the army reaches the spot, and takes CPPF personnel to the Army Base Hospital at Badami Bagh, a cantonment town on the outskirts of Srinagar. The entire highway is cordoned off and search operations are started.