In one of the deadliest terror strikes by Islamists to hit Jammu and Kashmir since Pulwama, the serene Baisaran Valley known as “Mini Switzerland” near Pahalgam was turned into a blood-soaked battlefield on April 22 when terrorists of The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), opened fire on Indian tourists. Among the 27 people killed were six from Maharashtra, including 54-year-old Pune businessman Santosh Jagdale, who, according to his daughter, was shot dead after he failed to recite an Islamic verse.
Asavari Jagdale, 26, who survived the carnage, described the horror that unfolded in front of her eyes. “They dragged my father out of the tent, called him ‘Chaudhary’ and accused him of supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Then they asked him to recite the Kalma. When he couldn’t, they pumped three bullets into himone in the head, one behind the ear, and one in the back,” she recounted, her voice trembling.
The Jagdale family was among dozens of tourists enjoying the scenic beauty of Baisaran Valley when the gunfire erupted. “We were a group of five, including my parents. The attackers were dressed in clothes similar to local police. At first, we thought it was an encounter between terrorists and security forces,” Asavari recalled.
The group rushed into a nearby tent with six to seven other tourists, hoping to escape the hail of bullets. But the attackers came closer, targeting the adjacent tent before turning to theirs.
What followed was a chilling exchange. “Chaudhary, tu bahar aa jaa (Chaudhary, you come outside),” shouted one of the assailants. They accused the group of backing Modi and claimed that Kashmiri people do not harm women, children, or innocents, before executing her father.
Asavari’s uncle, who was beside her, was also shot multiple times. “There was nobody to help. We lay on the ground praying for the firing to stop,” she said.
Twenty minutes after the bloodshed, security personnel and local helpers arrived. Asavari, her mother Pragati, and another relative were eventually rescued. “The pony handlers who brought us there helped us return. Later, we were medically examined and shifted to the Pahalgam Club,” she said.
The coordinated evacuation from the valley accessible only by foot was carried out using helicopters for the critically injured. Bodies were recovered as the magnitude of the massacre became clearer.
Among the other victims from Maharashtra were Dilip Dosale (Navi Mumbai), Kaustubh Ganbote (Pune), Atul Mane, Sanjay Lele, and Hemant Joshi (all from Thane). A family from Nagpur narrowly escaped. “We had just left when the attack started. We could hear the gunfire for a long time. Everyone was trying to flee,” the man said.
His wife, caught in the stampede, suffered two fractures including one in the leg, as panicked tourists squeezed through a narrow four-foot-wide gate. “There was no place to hide in the open meadow,” he said. “The bullets just kept coming.”
The attack claimed 27 lives, including two foreigners and two locals. Several others were critically injured in what is being called the worst attack in Jammu and Kashmir since 2019. The Resistance Front (TRF), known to be backed by Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed responsibility.
In the aftermath, Prime Minister Narendra Modi cut short his Saudi Arabia visit and rushed back to New Delhi. Union Home Minister Amit Shah flew to Srinagar, where he conducted a high-level security review with Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and other top officials. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was also present during the emergency deliberations.
While the investigation continues, the eyewitness account from Asavari Jagdale has shed a grim light on the targeted nature of the killings especially of Hindu tourists and the ideological venom driving the attackers.
