Father-son, banker from Gujarat among victims of Pahalgam terror attack

Terrorists struck at a prime tourist location in Pahalgam in south Kashmir on Tuesday, killing at least 26 persons, mostly tourists, and injuring several others.

Ahmedabad: Among the 28 victims of Tuesday's Pahalgam terror attack are a father-son duo from Bhavnagar and a banker from Surat. Another person from Bhavnagar sustained bullet injuries but their condition is said to be stable.

Confirming the death of two persons from Bhavnagar, district collector Manish Bansal told reporters, "In the Pahalgam terror attack, Yatish Parmar and his son Smit were tragically killed and Vinod Dabhi, who is also from district, suffered injuries. The dead bodies of Yatish and Smit will be brought to Mumbai from Srinagar and from there Bhavnagar administration is managing to bring them here."

He said that there were 20 people from the district. The 17 remaining tourists are also likely to land in Mumbai in the same flight and from there district administration will bring them back home.

Prakash Nathani, brother-in-law of Yatish, said that 22 persons from his family had gone to Srinagar to participate Morari Bapu's Ram Katha on April 16.

"On Tuesday, they went for sightseeing in Pahalgam where a terrorist attack happened in which my brother-in-law, Yatish and nephew Smit Parmar were shot. Till last night, we thought they were only injured but today when the list came their names were among the deceased. This is the biggest tragedy in our family," Nathani told reporters outside his house.

Yatish, 45, was running a haircutting salon while son, 17, Smit, was studying in 11th standard.

The third victim from Gujarat was Surat resident Shailesh Kalathiya, who was working with a nationalised bank in Mumbai.

He was on a vacation with his wife, daughter and son. According to reports, he was to celebrate his 44th birthday on April 23.

The mortal remains of father-son were flown from Mumbai to Ahmedabad airport on Wednesday late night where scores of BJP minister offered floral tribute to the victims.

Later in the day, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel announced Rs 5 lakh assistance to the families of the tourists from Gujarat who lost their lives in this attack and Rs 50,000 to the injured tourists from the state.