‘Hid in narrow pit’: Karnataka man reveals how he survived Pahalgam terror attack

A software engineer from Karnataka’s Mysuru and his family were among the set of people who managed to survive the deadly April 22 terrorist attack in Baisaran near Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam.

Prasanna Kumar Bhat recalled what he described as a "monstrous act" which painted the "heavenly beauty blood-red with hellfire".

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In a post on X, Bhat claimed that his brother, a senior Indian Army officer who was on vacation with him, saved his life and that of 35-40 other people on the day of the attack.

The software engineer, who had postponed his trip by 2 days due to bad weather and to cover Pahalgam, was vacationing with his wife, brother, and sister-in-law.

Detailing the events of the day of the terror attack, Bhat stated that he and his family reached Pahalgam around 12:30 pm on April 22 and took a pony ride to reach Baisaran around 1:35 pm.

"We entered by the main gate like everyone else and went to one of the cafes set up on the left side of the entrance. We were taken away by the majestic view and the landscape and enjoyed it with a cup of tea and kawa," he wrote on X.

It was around 2 pm that Bhat and his family decided to get up and walk around to take some pictures for their trip album, 'luckily' moving in the opposite direction to the entrance.

‘Like sheeps running to the tiger'

"Barely a few mins later we heard the first 2 gun shots loudly around 02:25 pm. It was followed by a pin drop silence for a min and everyone was just comprehending what had happened and the kids playing all around were still enjoying the best picnic of their life," Bhat wrote in his X post.

He claimed that surely it was the first time that the majority of the people present there had heard the loud sound of an AK-47. As soon as they heard the sound, Bhat and his family scrambled to take cover behind the nearest mobile toilet.

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"I could see two bodies lying on the ground already. My brother knew immediately that this was a terrorist attack. Then the hellfire broke, the gunshots came in bursts and chaos ensued. There was a cacophony of the crowd screaming out loud and running for their lives," Bhat claimed.

The Karnataka man, in his account, mentioned that there is not much room to escape in Baisaran as the entire meadow region is fenced. "So most of the crowd ran towards the gate to escape where the terrorists were already waiting, like sheeps running to the tiger," he said.

He claimed that a terrorist was even approaching him and his family's direction, but they were fortunate enough to find a narrow opening under a fence due to a drainage pipe. Bhat added that most people slid through the fence and ran in the opposite direction.

“My brother (Army officer) with his wife took cover near the mobile toilet. He managed to calm down the other people nearby. He quickly assessed the situation and understood that fire was coming from the entry point. So he guided us and 35-40 tourists in the opposite direction,” Bhat claimed.

He further stated that after having slid through the fence, his brother guided them to run in the downward direction so that they could move away from the firing. Since it was a slope with a water stream flowing, there was “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 their lives.”

‘Took cover in narrow pit’

Prasanna Kumar Bhat recalled how terrifying it felt in that moment, how scary the situation was with having kids and senior citizens around. “Words cannot describe the terror and horror one feels in such a situation and you feel really helpless,” he added.

Noting that there was a mobile network connection to alert the police, his brother notified a unit stationed in Pahalgam and then the army headquarters in Srinagar about the in-progress terror attack around 2:45 pm.

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Till then, “we four managed to take a cover in a narrow pit under the trees a few hundred metres from the location desperately praying for our lives”.Bhat claimed that the valley echoed with gunshot sounds until 3 pm. “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,” he added.

‘Gun shots still echoes in ears’

The first signal of help, the first sound of helicopters, was heard around 3:40 pm, Bhat stated, adding that by 4 pm, they spotted soldiers from special forces and the army and let out a huge sigh of relief.

“They spotted us and, knowing that we were tourists, they assured us that the entire perimeter had been secured by the Army and it was safe for us to walk down the hill. We were still in shock, our brains and senses were numb at this point while only the gunshots and the horror ran in a loop in our mind,” Bhat wrote in his X post.

He added, “We saw the people affected covered in blood being carried down and a range of emotions and thoughts and still unable to believe the events unfolded in the last 2 hours.”

Bhat stated that it was beyond expression to describe the “monsters” who took innocent people’s lives in the valley.

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“The gun shots still echo in our ears, and the terror still makes my gut wrench. 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,” Bhat added.

He also expressed gratitude towards his brother, a senior Army official, and the entire Indian Army “because of whom we are alive to narrate this incident in person and be back together with our family”.

Prasanna Kumar Bhat and his family have now safely returned home in Mysuru.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Sunday transferred the Pahalgam terror attack probe to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).