Deeply anguished by Pahalgam attack: Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata, April 22 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that she is deeply anguished by the attack on tourists in Kashmir's Pahalgam on Tuesday.

“My heartfelt condolences to the families of those who lost their lives, and prayers for the swift recovery of the injured. This act of violence is utterly reprehensible and must not go unpunished,” the Chief Minister said in her statement.

Earlier, a tourist was killed and several others were injured, including tourists & locals, in a terror attack in Pahalgam hill station in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district, leading to the security forces launching a massive operation to hunt down the perpetrators.

The tourist was killed, and other tourists and locals were injured, when terrorists attacked a group of tourists in the Baisran area of Pahalgam hill station.

As per reports, three to four terrorists wearing army fatigues came and fired at horse-riding tourists in the Baisran area around 2.30 p.m. Baisran is a small meadow 3 to 4 km from the Pahalgam market, and tourists take horses to reach the place as there is no motorable road to it.

"One tourist was killed in this attack, and several others, including tourists and locals, were injured. The injured have been shifted to Pahalgam hospital, from where those with critical injuries were shifted to Srinagar for specialised treatment," an official said, adding that the area has been cordoned off by the security forces to trace the assailants.

In a chilling account, a tourist from Karnataka who lost her husband in the terrorist attack told Kannada media that both she and her 18-year-old son confronted the terrorist and pleaded to be killed alongside Manjunath. However, the terrorist reportedly told them he wouldn’t harm them and instead instructed them to inform Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the attack.

Sources said the casualty figure is feared to rise as several people were injured.

--IANS

src/dan