Pahalgam terror attack: SBI employee killed on eve of birthday

Terrorists struck at a tourist location in Pahalgam in south Kashmir on Tuesday, killing at least 26 people, mostly tourists, and injuring several others

Updated on: Apr 23, 2025, 08:57:42 IST

By Maulik Pathak

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A 43-year-old employee of the State Bank of India posted in Mumbai, was killed in a terrorist attack in Pahalgam town of Jammu and Kashmir, just a day before he was to celebrate his birthday on April 23 with his family.

Terrorists struck at a tourist location in Pahalgam in south Kashmir on Tuesday, killing at least 26 people, mostly tourists, and injuring several others, officials said.

Shaileshbhai Kalathiya, originally from Chikuvadi in Surat, was in Pahalgam with his wife, daughter, son, and cousin, who are all safe.

Relief commissioner Alok Pandey said, “Shaileshbhai from Surat was killed in the firing. His family is safe, and we are providing full support.”

Also Read: Pahalgam terror attack triggers fear among tourists

According to news agency PTI, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday morning held a meeting with National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and external affairs minister S Jaishankar at the Delhi airport upon his arrival from Saudi Arabia, as he took stock of the situation following the terror attack in Pahalgam. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri was also part of the meeting, officials said.

On Tuesday, PM Modi had cut short his Saudi Arabia visit in wake of the terror attack.

Three tourists from Gujarat were injured.

“Vinod Dabhi, a resident of Bhavnagar, sustained a hand injury but is out of danger. He was part of a group of approximately 20 people from Bhavnagar vacationing in Jammu and Kashmir. Bhatt was wounded when attackers opened fire on tourists. We have no reports indicating other members of his group were injured. He is recovering at the hospital associated with Government Medical College (GMC) Anantnag,” said Manish Kumar Bansal, District Collector of Bhavnagar.

The condition of the other two injured Gujarat tourists is stable and they are also undergoing treatment at GMC Anantnag, said a government official aware of the matter.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maulik Pathak
He is an Ahmedabad-based journalist with more than two decades of experience. His career spans business journalism and general news, with reporting across politics, crime, governance, public policy, business, industry, infrastructure, energy, ports, aviation, the environment, wildlife and social issues. He began his career in feature writing before moving into business journalism, reporting on companies and sectors including energy, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, automobiles and real estate. Over the years, his work expanded to politics, courts, crime, public policy, civic affairs, the environment and wildlife. His reporting has taken him from government offices and courtrooms to factory floors, ports, forests and remote villages, covering stories that range from industrial investments and financial markets to elections, conservation and issues affecting everyday life. While many assignments demand the pace of the daily news cycle, others require sustained reporting over months and years to follow developments beyond the headlines. He started his journalism career with the Asian Age in Ahmedabad in 2002 as a feature writer and sub-editor. Since 2022, he has been working with Hindustan Times. Earlier, he worked with Business Standard, DNA, The Economic Times, Mint and The Times of India. His longest stint was with Mint, where he spent more than eight years reporting across multiple beats. During his career, he has worked in both reporting and editing roles, contributing to page planning, local editions and special editorial projects as newsrooms evolved from print-first operations to digital publishing. Early in his career, he also worked on media and documentary projects with an NGO and as a copywriter at a communications agency before returning to journalism. Away from work, he sometimes makes time for a pair of binoculars, table tennis, cinema and the occasional poem.Read More

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