Suhail A Shah

Anantnag, February 14

Locals and eyewitnesses in the Lethpora area of Pulwama where the suicide car bomb left 39 CRPF personnel dead described the scenes at the place as those of “doomsday”.

“There are no other words than to describe it a doomsday. It was terrifying and gut-wrenching,” a local said.

The car bomb rocked the area, 27 km from Srinagar, at about 3.15 pm. The explosion was so powerful that even some people in Srinagar heard it.

The explosion took place in between the lines of the newly constructed saffron shops along the National Highway No. 44.

People in Lethpora said they felt that the sky was falling on their heads.

“Our house rocked as if a high-intensity earthquake had hit Kashmir valley. The noise was deafening,” Zafar Ahmad, a resident, said.

People only understood it was an attack when the explosion was followed by gunshots that reverberated in the area for about five minutes.

“Then came the CRPF men, who were part of the convoy, running towards our houses. Many of them took refuge in our houses and also kept firing shots as they heard guns roaring around them,” a resident said.

Shopkeepers in the area said it was mayhem. As the blast rocked the area, people ran for cover, wailing and crying.

But the nightmare was not over for them.

“As guns stopped roaring and we peeked outside, we could see scattered body parts lying around with the damaged parts of the vehicles that were hit by the explosion,” one of the shopkeepers, Abdul Karim, said

He described the scenes as horrible and gruesome.

“I don’t think anyone in Lethpora can sleep or eat tonight. It has shaken us badly,” another shopkeeper said.

The security forces immediately blocked traffic movement on the NH-44 and diverted vehicles to “safer” bypasses. Even scribes trying to reach the spot were not allowed to go the place.