An Mysuru, Karnataka-based software engineer and his family barely escaped the terror attack that hit Baisaran near Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22.
Prasanna Kumar Bhat, who escaped the attack, posted on X (formerly Twitter), terming it as a ‘monstrous act’ that turned the ‘heavenly beauty blood-red with hellfire’.
Bhat attributed his salvation to his brother, a senior Indian Army officer, who saved not only their lives but also that of 35–40 others in the fatal accident. He was on a holiday with his wife, brother, and sister-in-law, a holiday which had been postponed by two days because of inclement weather to cover Pahalgam in their travel plans.
Details of the Attack
On April 22, Bhat and his family arrived in Pahalgam at about 12:30 pm and traveled to Baisaran by pony ride and arrived there at about 1:35 pm. Sharing his experience, Bhat tweeted, “We went in through the main gate like the rest of the people and headed towards one of the cafes installed on the left side of the entrance. We were impressed by the grand view and the scenery and savored it with a cup of tea and kawa.”
At about 2 pm, the family sat down to walk around and take pictures, happily steering away from the entrance. Soon, there was gunfire.
“Barely after a few minutes we could hear the first 2 gun shots clearly at about 02:25 pm. Then came an ear piercing silence of a min and everybody was just trying to understand what just happened and all the kids running around who were playing had not stopped and enjoyed the life best picnic till that moment,” said Bhat in his post.
He noted that many present might have been hearing the sound of an AK-47 for the first time. Reacting swiftly, Bhat and his family took cover behind a mobile toilet. “I could see two bodies on the ground already. My brother knew right away that it was a terrorist attack. Then the hellfire erupted, the bursts of gunshots and the commotion. There was a cacophony of the crowd screaming at the top of their lungs and running for their lives,” he wrote.
Saved by a Hidden Pit
As per Bhat, Baisaran’s fencing limited escape paths. “So most of the crowd ran to the gate to escape where the terrorists were already waiting, like sheeps running to the tiger,” he said.
He further stated that a terrorist even came towards their side, but they were able to locate a drainage pipe entrance under a fence and slid through it to escape in the opposite direction.
“My brother (Army officer) and his wife found refuge near the mobile toilet. He managed to pacify the other individuals around him. He took stock of the situation within minutes and realized fire was emanating from the entrance side. So he led us and 35-40 tourists in the opposite direction,” Bhat said.
After they slipped through the fence, they descended a muddy, slippery slope alongside a water stream. “As it was a slope with a water stream running, there was some degree of protection from direct line of sight. It was extremely slippery to run along the muddy slope, but a lot slipped but were able to run for their lives,” Bhat added.
They then took shelter in a pit under the trees some hundred meters from the main site. “We four were able to find an cover in a small pit under the trees a few hundred metres from the spot desperately praying for our lives,” he wrote, calling the hour spent there one of terror and helplessness.
Rescue Efforts
Meanwhile, Bhat’s brother was able to alert a unit based in Pahalgam and the Army headquarters in Srinagar at 2:45 pm. Until then, they huddled in fear, unsure if they should remain there or take a chance to run further.
The rescue efforts began at 3:40 pm with the sounds of helicopters. By 4 pm, Army and Special Forces were on the perimeter.
“They saw us and, since they knew that we were foreigners, they promised us that the whole perimeter was guarded by the Army and it was safe for us to proceed down the hill. We were still in a state of shock, our brains and senses were numb by this time while only the gunshots and the horror kept repeating in our mind,” Bhat explained.
Witnessing the bloodied victims being taken away, Bhat conveyed the internal conflict they were experiencing. “We saw the affected people drenched in blood being taken down and a mix of thoughts and emotions and yet unable to believe what transpired in the last 2 hours,” he posted.
Crying out in anguish over the senseless killing of innocent lives, Bhat stated, “The gun shots still ring in our ears, and the fear still turns my stomach. This will be a permanent scar, an unrepealable memory of what Kashmir’s beauty conceals beneath. It hurts to see this being done in our nation.”
Gratitude to Indian Army
Bhat conveyed his heartfelt appreciation to his brother and the Indian Army, stating, “because of whom we are alive to narrate this incident personally and be reunited with our family.”
Now recovered from the traumatizing experience, safely back in Mysuru, Bhat and his family are reunited.
In the meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has handed over the probe of the Pahalgam terror attack to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
