Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday vowed to “chase the perpetrators to the gates of hell” after visiting Pahalgam’s Baisaran meadow, where 27 tourists and a local horse-handler were killed in a militant ambush the day before.
Srinagar:Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday vowed to “chase the perpetrators to the gates of hell” after visiting Pahalgam’s Baisaran meadow, where 27 tourists and a local horse-handler were killed in a militant ambush the day before.
Shah, accompanied by Jammu & Kashmir Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, first paid floral tributes at a wreath-laying ceremony in Srinagar Police Control Room. “Bharat will not bend to terror; those behind this dastardly attack will not be spared,” the minister later posted on X.
Hours after chairing a late-night security review at Raj Bhavan, Shah flew by helicopter to Baisaran. Security forces briefed him on preliminary findings and ongoing “high-tech” counter-terror operations across the surrounding hills. All access routes to the meadow were sealed for the visit.
The home minister, LG Sinha and CM Abdullah then met the injured at Anantnag’s Government Medical College Hospital. Shah directed officials to provide “the best possible care” and told survivors that “every Indian shares your grief.”
Chief Minister Abdullah announced ex gratia payments of ₹10 lakh to the families of the deceased, ₹2 lakh to those seriously injured and ₹1 lakh to the lightly wounded. “No sum can equal a lost life, but we stand by every affected family,” Abdullah said.
Later in the day, Abdullah attended the funeral of Syed Adil Hussain Shah — the Kashmiri horse-handler killed while reportedly trying to shield tourists and wrestle a weapon from the attackers. “He laid down his life in an act of bravery,” the chief minister said, pledging state support for Shah’s family.
Abdullah has called an all-party meeting in Srinagar on Thursday to discuss the security situation. J&K government offices observed a two-minute silence; Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is due in Srinagar tonight, as six victims hailed from his state.
Meanwhile, state and central agencies continue a multi-agency hunt for the assailants, with “all entry and exit points” under tight security and additional forces deployed across south Kashmir’s tourist belt.
