Gandhinagar, April 23 Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi has vowed to deliver a "strong reply" to the terrorists responsible for the deadly attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed the lives of 16 individuals, including three from the state.
In a statement, he condemned the attack, calling it an act of cowardice and promising justice for the victims.
"We will give terrorists a strong reply, and each one of them will be found and punished," said Minister Sanghavi, emphasising that justice will be done.
Among the deceased were Sumit and Yatish Parmar from Bhavnagar and Shailesh Kalathiya from Surat.
The attack, which targeted unsuspecting tourists, also left more than 20 others injured.
The Gujarat government has made arrangements to bring the bodies back to the state.
Gautam M. Parmar, the DIG from Bhavnagar, said Vinubhai Dabhi from Bhavnagar was also injured in the Pahalgam terrorist attack. Dabhi is currently receiving treatment in Anantnag, and his condition is improving.
"As per the information, 20 people from Bhavnagar had gone to Pahalgam. Once we have the names of those present at the scene, we will be able to share more information. We are in touch with the Jammu and Kashmir police, and we will receive further details shortly," said the DIG.
The attack was claimed by The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot and proxy of the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
TRF is known to operate under the façade of a "homegrown resistance movement", but Indian intelligence agencies have repeatedly exposed it as a front engineered by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to carry out attacks while maintaining plausible deniability on the international stage.
In their statement, TRF cited anger over the settlement of over 85,000 non-local Indians in Jammu and Kashmir, claiming it was part of a so-called "demographic invasion."
They framed the attack as a response to India's post-2019 policies following the abrogation of Article 370.
A massive counter-terror operation is underway in the forested hills around Baisaran, led by the Army, CRPF, and J&K Police.
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