LUDHIANA: Days after unidentified accused pelted stones on a Kashmir-bound bus near Doraha, Khanna police ruled out a hate angle against the bus company.The investigators have found that the incident was allegedly the handiwork of a group of men who targeted moving vehicles with stones and then robbed their occupants when they stopped.Police have also ruled out any link to a similar stone-pelting incident on a Kashmir-bound bus in Karnal, Haryana, a day before the incident.On Oct 19, Khanna Police had registered a case against unidentified accused after stones were thrown at a Kashmir-bound bus near Doraha of Ludhiana on Oct 18 night.No one was injured in the incident even as one stone had allegedly hit the front windshield, while another struck an emergency window.Although the bus owners suspected a possible hate angle, citing an attack on another bus operated by the same company near Karnal a day earlier, police officials have ruled out this possibility.DSP Payal HS Cheema said that the incident was initially considered sensitive because a similar attack had reportedly taken place on a bus belonging to the same company in Haryana a day earlier, raising concerns about a possible connection.He added that police also examined the possibility of a religious motive or hate crime.“However, after a detailed investigation involving CCTV footage and technical evidence, police found no link to the Haryana incident and no evidence of a religious motive,” the officer said.Investigators identified three suspects allegedly involved in the incident. The accused was identified as Abhishek of Banaras in UP, presently at Doraha.DSP Payal said that the accused had previously been involved in similar offences, including targeting vehicles travelling on roads at night by pelting them with stones.He added that when drivers or passengers stopped, the suspects allegedly took advantage of the situation to commit theft or snatching.SSP Khanna Dr Darpan Ahluwalia said that the arrested accused Abhishek would get together with his associates on Sundays and at 8.30pm on that day, they had a verbal duel with the owner of a Dhaba (Eatery) at Doraha.She added that after that, they started pelting stones at two trucks and a bus so that they wouldn’t stop at the Dhaba.The senior officer said that truck drivers had reported the same incident.The DSP said that the three accused in the case have previous cases, including a snatching case of 2025. He added that further investigation is underway, and efforts are being made to apprehend the remaining two accused in the case and they will be arrested soon.
