'Must have done something good to be alive,' says Jalgaon woman who survived Pahalgam attack

Mumbai: Neha alias Kishori Waghulade, who works as a casual announcer with the All India Radio (AIR) in Maharashtra's Jalgaon city, feels she must have done something good in life to have survived the deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam town.

Visiting Pahalgam with a group of holiday-makers, Neha Waghulade was admiring the natural beauty of Baisaran meadows, a prime tourist location, when gunshots rang in the air on Tuesday afternoon. The meadows in the upper reaches of Pahalgam soon turned into a site of carnage where 26 people, mostly tourists, were gunned down by terrorists.

"I must have done something good in life, that's why I am still alive," she told her husband after surviving the terror attack.

Her husband, Tushar Waghulade, speaking from Jalgaon, said his wife went to Kashmir with a group of friends on April 15.

"The group was in Pahalgam. I had not been in touch with her for two days because of work. When I called her around 2 pm on Tuesday, she said there was firing and a terror attack was taking place. She told me she was safe and would contact me later," he said.

Tushar Waghulade said he sensed the gravity of the situation from her voice. "She sounded shaken. Then she cut the call. I understood how serious it was," he said.

They spoke again in the evening.

"Between 7.30 pm and 8 pm, she told me she was fine. She mentioned ambulances and that more security personnel were arriving. She said some tourists had died, but her group was safe," Tushar Waghulade maintained.

"She told me that during the afternoon call there was a loud noise and people were panicking. After she hung up, I assumed her group had been moved to a safer place," he said.

Tushar Waghulade said his wife described how the Indian Army responded.

"She said the Army acted fast. They first hid tourists in vehicles and ambulances, and later shifted everyone to a safe place about 1.5 km from the attack site. Many tourists spent the night there," he said.

The group resumed their onward journey the next morning. "Today (Wednesday), they left for Katra to continue their tour and will later visit the Vaishno Devi Temple," he said.

Tushar Waghulade said his wife works as a casual announcer with the AIR in Jalgaon and is also a counsellor.