J&K attack: Terrorists targeted male tourists after asking their religion, says victim's kin

Pune: The daughter of a businessman from Pune killed in the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam has claimed that terrorists specifically targeted male tourists after asking them to identify their religion.

Two businessmen from Maharashtra's Pune, Santosh Jagdale and Kaustubh Ganbote, sustained gunshot wounds in the dastardly terrorist attack in Pahalgam on Tuesday and later succumbed, officials said.

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, according to officials.

The deceased included two foreigners -- from the UAE and Nepal -- and two locals, they said.

Jagdale was part of a five-member group, which also included his wife Pragati, daughter Asavari, Kaustubh Ganbote and Sangita Ganbote, who travelled to Pahalgam on Tuesday.

Asavari, 26, a human resource professional in Pune, told PTI that her father and uncle were shot by terrorists while they were at a stop, called 'mini Switzerland' in Betaab Valley.

“There were several tourists around, but the terrorists specifically targeted male tourists after asking whether they were Hindu or Muslim,” she said.

The family was on a vacation at the idyllic spot when they heard firing from "people who wore clothes similar to those of local police" descending from the nearby hill.

"We immediately rushed to a nearby tent for protection. So did six to seven others (tourists). We all lay down on the ground as protection against the firing which we then assumed was between the terrorists and security personnel," Asavari said.

She said the group of terrorists first came to a nearby tent and opened fire.

"Then they came to our tent and asked my father to come out," she said.

"They said 'Chaudhari tu bahar aa ja'," Asavari said.

The terrorists then blamed them for supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after which they made some statements to deny that Kashmiri militants kill innocent people, women and children, she said.

"They then asked my father to recite an Islamic verse (probably the Kalma). When he failed to do so, they pumped three bullets into him, one on the head, one behind the ear and another in the back," she said.

"My uncle was next to me. The terrorists fired four to five bullets into him. They shot several other males who were at the spot. There was nobody to help. No police or army, who reached 20 minutes later. Even the locals there were reciting the Islamic verse," she said.

Asavari, her mother and another female relative were spared, and locals and security forces evacuated them to Pahalgam Club.

"The people who took us to the spot on ponies helped us -- three women, including myself and my mother -- make the return journey. Later we underwent medical examination to check for injuries and were then shifted to Pahalgam Club," she said.

"After the firing started, we ran along with other tourists. Later, the Indian Army reached the spot and rescued us,” she added.