Pahalgam Terror Attack: Pahalgam terror attack: Families of victims break down, plead in front of Amit Shah
NEW DELHI: Union home minister
on Wednesday met with the families of the victims of the
Pahalgam terror attack
at the police control room in Srinagar.
Grieving relatives broke down in front of him, pleading for justice and demanding that the loss of their loved ones not go in vain.
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Shah, who arrived in Srinagar within hours of the attack that claimed at least 28 lives, laid wreaths on the coffins of the slain victims in a sombre ceremony.
According to officials, the home minister assured the survivors and families of the deceased that the security forces would "leave no stone unturned" in bringing the perpetrators to justice.
He also met with survivors of the attack and expressed deep sorrow over their pain.
'Those involved in this dastardly act of terror will not be spared, and we will come down heavily on the perpetrators with the harshest consequences,' Shah had said earlier in a post on X.
The attack, one of the worst on civilians in Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370, took place at the scenic
Baisaran meadows
in Pahalgam on Tuesday, where heavily armed terrorists opened fire on a group of mostly non-local tourists.
Initial reports indicate that the victims were selectively targeted, with men being separated from their families before being gunned down.
On Wednesday, Shah also chaired a high-level security review meeting with top officials, including
's Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and DGP Nalin Prabhat.
As the bodies of the victims were brought to the Government Medical College Srinagar in the early hours of Wednesday before being shifted to the Police Control Room, the scale of the tragedy unfolded.
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Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah and Lieutenant Governor Sinha also paid floral tributes to the deceased.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister
cut short his visit to Saudi Arabia and returned to Delhi early Wednesday morning. Upon arrival, he chaired an urgent briefing at Palam Airport with senior officials, including NSA Ajit Doval and external affairs minister S Jaishankar. 'Those behind this heinous act will be brought to justice… Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakable,' PM Modi said in an earlier post.
Political parties and trader unions across the Kashmir valley observed a complete shutdown on Wednesday in solidarity with the victims and to condemn the bloodshed. The
and J&K Police have launched a massive manhunt in and around Baisaran to track down those responsible.
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