Karnataka techie recalls how his army jawan brother saved lives during Pahalgam attack: ‘He guided 35-40 tourists’

“We survived the horror to tell the story of what can only be described as monstrous act,” a techie who survived the Pahalgam attack wrote on X.

A civilian massacre in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam claimed 26 lives and left many injured. A software engineer took to X to recall the horror of the terrorist attack and how he, along with his family, narrowly escaped on the fateful day. He also claimed that his brother, an army officer, saved the lives of about 40 people by guiding them to safety.

A Karnataka techie who visited Kashmir with his wife, brother, and sister-in-law recalled the horror of the Pahalgam attack. (X/@prasannabhat38)

“Yet another survival story from the tainted Baisaran valley in Pahalgam. We survived the horror to tell the story of what can only be described as monstrous act and paint the heavenly beauty blood-red with hellfire. By the grace of the God, luck, and some quick thinking from an Army officer saved not only our life but lives of another 35-40 people that day. Here's how the events unfolded for us that day,” Prasanna Kumar Bhat wrote on X.

He recalled hearing the first two gunshots that were followed by “a pin drop silence” as everyone tried to comprehend what just happened. He said that within moments, he and his family saw two bodies lying, and his brother “knew immediately that this was a terrorist attack.”

Bhat recollected that within moments, everyone started to panic and run towards the entrance gate of the fenced meadow. “So most of the crowd ran towards the gate for escape where the terrorists were already waiting, like sheeps running to the tiger. We could see a terrorist approaching in our direction, so we decided to run the other way and fortunately we found a narrow opening under the fence and most of the people hiding slide through the fence and started running the other way,” he wrote.

According to Bhat, his brother quickly assessed the situation and guided his family, along with “35-40 tourists, in the opposite direction.” Bhat added, “He [his brother] guided the people to run in the downward direction to move away from the place where the firing was happening. It was a slope where the water stream was flowing so gave some level of protection from direct line of sight. It was very slippery to run on the muddy slope but many slipped but managed to run for life.”

“We stayed put in the pit for an hour petrified, hopeless, and praying for safety. We didn't know if we had to stay put in the same place or run in some random direction hoping to escape the death trap. All the while thinking about our little children and parents who we had left behind home and not knowing when this will end,” Bhat continued. He had visited Kashmir with his wife, brother, and sister-in-law.

“This will leave a permanent scar, a memory that cannot be erased of what Kashmir's beauty hides underneath. It's painful to see this happening in our country. I pray that nobody ever has to go through such experience of terror in their life. We pray for their souls and I hope God will provide justice to them. Finally I want to express my gratitude to my brother and the entire Indian Army because of whom we are alive to narrate this incident in person and be back together with our family,” he wrote in the concluding lines of his post, adding that he and his family have safely returned to Mysuru.

In the wake of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, the Jammu and Kashmir administration demolished the house of several terrorists. India blamed Pakistan for the massacre and imposed several punitive measures, including suspension of the Indus Water Treaty and closing of borders.