'Terrorists cursed Modi, asked my father to recite Islamic verse before shooting him', says victim's daughter

The 26-year-old daughter of the Pune businessman recounted the terror the family went through in the horrific attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday.

Mumbai: The family was cowering in fear inside a tent when terrorists came. They asked Santosh Jagdale, 54, to come out and recite an Islamic verse. When he couldn't, they shot him thrice: once in the head, then behind the ear and then his back.

The 26-year-old daughter of the Pune businessman recounted to PTI the terror the family went through in the horrific attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday.

After her father fell to the ground, the gunmen turned on her uncle who was lying next to her and shot him several times in the back.

"We were a group of five people, including my parents. We were in Baisaran Valley near Pahalgam and were at a spot called Mini Switzerland when the firing began," Asavari Jagdale told PTI in a telephonic interview five hours after the shooting.

According to officials, a total of 26 people were killed and several injured, most of them tourists in the deadliest terrorist attack in Kashmir in recent years.

Asavari does not know if her father and uncle are alive or among the dead.

She, her mother and another female relative were spared, and locals and security forces evacuated them to Pahalgam Club where they remain clueless about the fate of the two men.

Asavari, 26, a human resource professional in Pune, 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.

Then the terrorists 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.

"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.

"The firing happened around 3.30 pm. It has been 5 hours and there has been no update on my father's and uncle's medical condition," Asavari said.