'You don't look like Kashmiri, Hindu ho kya?': Man recalls terror suspect spoke to him day before Pahalgam attack
Maharashtra resident Adarsh Raut said that he stopped at a "Maggi stall" for food when a man approached him and asked him if he was a Hindu. India news
A resident of Maharashtra's Jalna recently returned from Jammu and Kashmir days after the Pahalgam terror attack and shared a shocking experience, as he claimed that one of the suspected attackers spoke to him a day before the attack.
Adarsh Raut recalled his interaction with a man at a food stall in the Baisaran Valley on April 21.
"Hindu ho kya. You don’t look like you are from Kashmir,” Raut told PTI about what the attacker asked him.
He further said that he had gone horse riding in Pahalgam on April 21 and had stopped at a "Maggi stall" for food when a man approached him and asked him if he was a Hindu.
Also read: Man claims he captured Pahalgam terrorists on video while making reel, submits footage to NIA
The attacker also told Raut that he doesn't look like a Kashmiri, PTI reported.
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“The suspect then turned to his companion and said, ‘There’s less crowd today,” Raut added.
He said that he found the conversation quite disturbing, however, it didn't scare or startle him until the April 22 attack, that killed at least 27 people, mostly tourists.
Raut further said that he got to know about the attacker after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) released the sketches of the terrorists.
'Connected the dots'
“After I saw the sketches released by the NIA (National Investigation Agency), I connected the dots,” he claimed.
He said that then he emailed the NIA a detailed account of his experience in Kashmir.
“I have written everything I could remember. I have also mentioned that I could not initially pay the Maggi stall owner due to network issues. I took his phone number and paid him once I came down from the hill,” he said.
However, Raut has not received any response from the NIA. "I’ll cooperate with them in every possible way if they reach out to me,” he said.
WATCH | New details emerge in Pahalgam terror attack: 4 terrorists involved
There were a total of four terrorists, who killed 26 people in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam last week, WION has learned from sources. Two among them were wearing camouflage and the other two were in civilian dress.
The sources also revealed that only three terrorists came inside the Baisaran meadow and the fourth one was giving cover fire.
Notably, The Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to shut down around 50 tourist destinations and trekking trails in the Valley citing security reasons after last week's terror attack on tourists in Pahalgam.
