Tuesday evening suddenly turned into terror in the Baisran Valley of Pahalgam. As soon as the tourists came out of the mini-Switzerland, firing started from a distance of 20 feet; but no one was seen firing. People were running towards the forest through a door that was only four feet wide, lying on top of each other and crushing each other. Tilak Rupchandani’s wife jumped from the hill to save her life and fractured both her legs. Tilak Rupchandani said that the sound of bullets could be heard for a long time; but no one dared to turn back. His wife said that no one had time to look for them in the crowd. Four to five thousand people kept moving forward chanting the name of God. If we had waited even for two minutes, we might not have reached here, she added.
The attackers first asked for the name and on hearing the name Hindu, they started firing indiscriminately. Police have cordoned off the area and launched a search operation. The injured are undergoing treatment at a hospital in Srinagar. A video of the attack has been circulated on social media. In it, many people are lying on the ground in a state of bloodshed. Also, female tourists were seen breaking the hambarda and searching for their relatives. Some tourists were very shaken by the attack and local residents were trying to save them.
The roads of Pahalgam were deserted after the news of the terrorist attack. A large number of tourists who had come there left for safety. In 2000, more than 30 people were killed and 60 were injured in the terrorist attack on the Amarnath base camp. Then in 2001, 13 people were killed and 15 were injured in Sheshnag and in 2002, 11 people were killed in a terrorist attack in Pahalgam. In 2017, 8 pilgrims returning from the Amarnath Yatra were shot.
The sight of the injured and their relatives breaking the hambarda for help after the attack was heartbreaking. Some tourists were lying in a pool of blood. The attack was carried out in a very brutal manner. Some terrorists came from the forest and surrounded 40 tourists and opened fire on them indiscriminately. As soon as the firing started, the locals fled from there to save their lives. However, the tourists were not able to escape from there. A woman who survived the firing said that her husband was shot in the head. The terrorists attacked him because he belongs to a particular religion.
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The number of tourists in Kashmir is increasing. At the same time, this horrific attack took place. The Amarnath Yatra will start from July 3 and will last for 38 days. In the wake of the attack in Pahalgam, local residents expressed the opinion that the security arrangements for the Amarnath Yatra also need to be tightened.