They Came Out of Forest

They had travelled from Pune in Maharashtra to Pahalgam in Kashmir, hoping to escape the sweltering heat and take advantage of the tourism boom in what many called the mini Switzerland of India.

- Mir Ehsan, Naheed Ataulla, Debabrata Mohanty and Maulik Pathak

Mir Ehsan, Naheed Ataulla, Debabrata Mohanty and Maulik Pathak [e-mail] SRINAGAR/BENGALURU/BHUBANESWAR/AHMEDABAD:

But on Tuesday afternoon, the journey of the five-member family ended in a nightmare as terrorists opened fire on them - the worst terror attack to hit civilians in Kashmir in nearly two decades.

"The terrorists caught hold of many men and pumped bullets into them. They asked them about their religion," said Asavari Jagdale, whose father Santosh Jagdale was among the victims.

She said a young terrorist asked her father to recite Islamic verses. "He said that you have helped Modi and it is because of you our religion is in danger... and then opened fire as my father couldn't recite... They also opened fire on my uncle and other two persons who were with us," she said, adding that she didn't know if other members of her family were alive.

Another survivor, Pallavi from Karnataka, said her husband Manjunath Rao was shot dead in front of her. "They shot my husband...I told them to kill me and my son too. The terrorist told me - I won't. Go and tell Modi," she said, according to Shivamogga MP BY Raghavendra after speaking to the family on phone.