Pahalgam terror attack: Karnataka man reveals chilling account of 'monstrous act'; 'brains and senses were numb'

In a chilling account of the Pahalgam terrorist attack, a survivor has shared their harrowing experience of the April 22 "monstrous act" that killed 26 and injured many more.

Prasanna Kumar Bhat said that his brother, a senior Indian Army officer who was on vacation and accompanied them for the trip, saved him and 35 to 40 other people on the day terrorists opened fire on the tourists.

Bhat said that his family had postponed their trip by two days due to bad weather and arrived in Pahalgam around 12:30 pm on April 22.

They took a pony ride to Baisaran valley and were enjoying the majestic view when the attack occurred around 2:25 pm.

"We entered by the main gate like everyone else and went to one of the cafes set up on the left side of the entrance. We were taken away by the majestic view and the landscape and enjoyed it with a cup of tea and kawa," he wrote on X.

Bhat said that around 2 pm, he and his family decided to go up to take a stroll and click some photos, in a direction that was opposite to the entrance.

Yet another survival story from the tainted Baisaran valley in Pahalgam. We survived the horror to tell the story of what can only be described as monstrous act and paint the heavenly beauty blood-red with hellfire.
By the grace of the God, luck, and some quick thinking from… pic.twitter.com/00ln2y0DJo

The survivor recounted hearing the first gunshots and seeing two bodies lying on the ground. Bhat's brother, an Army officer, quickly assessed the situation and guided the group of 35-40 tourists to safety through a narrow opening in the fence.

"Barely a few mins later we heard the first 2 gun shots loudly around 02:25 pm. It was followed by a pin drop silence for a min and everyone was just comprehending what had happened and the kids playing all around were still enjoying the best picnic of their life," Bhat wrote in his X post.

"I could see two bodies lying on the ground already. My brother knew immediately that this was a terrorist attack. Then the hellfire broke, the gunshots came in bursts and chaos ensued. There was a cacophony of the crowd screaming out loud and running for their lives," he claimed.

The survivor described the terrifying experience of running down a muddy slope, slipping, and praying for their lives while the gunshots continued to echo through the valley. They managed to take cover in a narrow pit under trees and stayed put for an hour, petrified and hopeless.

“My brother (Army officer) with his wife took cover near the mobile toilet. He managed to calm down the other people nearby. He quickly assessed the situation and understood that fire was coming from the entry point. So he guided us and 35-40 tourists in the opposite direction,” he claimed.

Recalling the horrific turn of events, Bhat said that it was terrifying to fathom that no place was safe and anything could have unfolded in the next moment.

"Just imagine the situation of having kids and elderly people with you and even worse scattered in the crowd and you don't know their location and whether they are safe or not. Words cannot describe the terror and horror one feels in such a situation and you feel really helpless," he said.

He said that he, along with his wife, sister-in-law and his brother, managed to take cover in a narrow pit under the trees a few hundred metres from the location "desperately praying for our lives."

He said that his brother managed to alert the unit stationed in  Pahalgam and the army headquarters in Srinagar about the terror attack, and at around 03:40 pm, they heard the first sound of helicopters, "that gave the first signal that things have moved and help is on its way."

He said, “They spotted us and, knowing that we were tourists, they assured us that the entire perimeter had been secured by the Army and it was safe for us to walk down the hill. We were still in shock, our brains and senses were numb at this point while only the gunshots and the horror ran in a loop in our mind.”

“We saw the people affected covered in blood being carried down and a range of emotions and thoughts and still unable to believe the events unfolded in the last 2 hours,” Bhat added. 

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has transferred the probe into the Pahalgam terror attack to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).