'You have created terror here,' terrorist told us before shooting: Families recount Pahalgam horror

Time of India

24-04-2025

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"You have created terror here," a terrorist shouted before continuing to indiscriminately fire at tourists in Jammu and Kashmir's Baisaran, ignoring pleas to spare their lives, survivors of the massacre recounted at Dombivli near Mumbai on Thursday after returning home. Three cousins -- Sanjay Lele (50), Hemant Joshi (45) and Atul Mone (43) -- hailing from Dombivli in Thane district, were among the 26 persons, mostly tourists, killed in the ghastly terror attack at Pahalgam on April 22 (Tuesday).Relatives of the deceased narrated how what began as an idyllic day turned out to be the worst day of their life as terrorists, clad in brown clothes, faces covered, equipped with GoPro cameras mounted on their heads, descended on the picturesque meadow of Baisaran and changed it into a blood-soaked site. "There were at least four of them," said Harshal Lele, whose father Sanjay and two uncles were killed in the attack."I saw two, but from their movements and the sound of footsteps, I could tell there were more. They had beards and wore brown clothes, though I can not say whether it was a uniform," he told the media. Harshal Lele, who travelled with his family to Pahalgam on April 22, recalled the moment his life changed. "My hand was on my father's head when I suddenly felt something wet. I looked, and it was blood his head had been shot," he recounted with trembling voice. The attack unfolded suddenly. "We first thought the firing sound was like a bulb fuse bursting. Then the sound came closer. Locals alerted us, but it was already too late," he said.Anushka Mone, wife of the slain Atul Mone, shared how her husband was murdered while trying to reason with the attackers. "We reached Baisaran Valley around 1 or 1.30 pm. It was a bright, beautiful day. Suddenly we heard gunfire, but thought it was some adventure activity nearby," she said. The gunmen demanded to know who among the group were Hindus or Muslims. "They asked us three to four times. No one answered. My husband stepped forward and said, 'Why are you shooting us? We have done nothing.' They shot him," Anushka Mone said.Atul Mone was Harshal Lele's uncle. She recalled the moment her another relative raised his hand when asked again who among them was Hindu. "They executed him right there," she said. "These were tourists, families. What terror had we spread?," she stated while narrating the words of terrorists who told her "you have created terror here" before firing another round into the terrified crowd. Harshal Lele described how his uncle, Atul Mone, was asked to separate from his wife and relatives. "He refused. He hugged them tightly, and they shot him in the abdomen," he said.Another uncle, Hemant Joshi, tried to plead with the attackers. "He said, 'We have done nothing, let us go,' and they shot him for that," Harshal Lele said. He witnessed his father being shot in the head after trying to speak to one of the attackers. In the chaos that followed, the survivors were guided out by helpful locals and horse service providers. "There was no security at the site. The area was wide open, with more than a hundred tourists maybe even more, we could not see the full area," Harshal Lele added."I carried my mother on my back before we got the help from a pony ride operator who offered us to take her down on his horse. We walked for four hours through the mud and hills," he said. "My mother had a partially paralysed leg. We reached the hospital at around 6 pm. The firing happened at 2.30. By 7 pm, they told me three people from my family had died," Harshal Lele stated.The Lele family took shelter at the home of a family friend who is an IPS officer. Harshal Lele was called for body identification the next morning at 7 and later taken to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. Responding to a question on expectations of the family, he said, "The terrorists can be anywhere. Do not spare them. Give shoot at sight orders. I don't know what else to say." Families of the victims are now demanding accountability and justice."The government must act. We were ordinary tourists. We went to see nature, not to become victims of terrorism," said Anushka Mone. The Mone family broke down before the media as they narrated the harrowing sequence of events that turned a dream vacation into a blood-soaked nightmare. Anushka Mone, holding back sobs, recalled how Hemant Joshi, confused and unaware of the threat, asked the terrorists what they were doing."They shot him in the head before he could finish his sentence," she said. Her daughter Richa Mone, a 12th-grade student who was also at the spot, added, "They asked about Sanjay Kaka (uncle). I was right behind him when they shot him dead." She recounted how her uncle -- Anushka's Mone's brother -- was spared possibly only because his wife wore green bangles, which the terrorists may have mistakenly associated with Muslim identity. "There was no chance to run. If we had, they would have fired more bullets and killed more people. So we ducked and sat silently," she said.Survivors described a night of fear and confusion. "We were escorted down by military and police personnel after hours. There were choppers, but too few. There should have been better security at such a major tourist spot. On the upper hills, there was nothing," said Richa Mone. Tourists were stranded and traumatized. "We sat at the Pahalgam base till 9:30 pm. Many others were in worse condition - a woman with two kids was fainting in fear. It was complete chaos," Anushka Mone recounted.