Home Minister Amit Shah visits Pahalgam terror attack site Baisaran meadow

Shah, who rushed to Kashmir soon after the attack, spoke to the Army taking stock of the attack.

Earlier, the Home Minister met kins of the people killed in the attack that has triggered grief and anger across the country.

The terrorists, who were apparently in camouflage, reportedly asked the victims to chant Islamic verse, pull down their pants to check circumcision in a bid to confirm their Hindu identities before gunning them down. Two among the dead were non-Muslim foreigners.

"Please save my husband," cries a woman shown in a video which is all over the internet.

A woman survivor claimed her husband was killed in front of her but left her alive to send a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Go tell this to Modi," said the woman quoting the attacker.

"Three of us – me, my husband and our son – had gone to Kashmir. It happened around 1.30 pm, I think. We were at Pahalgam. He died on the spot, in front of my eyes. It still feels like a bad dream," said the woman, whose 47-year-old husband Manjunath Rao from Karnataka's Shivamogga was killed, as quoted by India Today.

"Three to four people attacked us. I told them – kill me too, you’ve already killed my husband. One of them said, I won’t kill you. Go tell this to Modi," Manjunath's wife Pallavi added recounting the chilling details of the attack.

Journalists shared a video where the survivors were seen crying for help while one woman was terrified to even believe the Indian Army owing to the trauma they were subjected to.

"We are the Indian Army, don't worry. We have come here for your safety," one soldier said consoling a terrified woman who was shaken, uncontrollable and grieving after losing her son.

PM Modi rushes back from Saudi Arabia

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was in Saudi Arabia at the time of the attack, had asked Union Home Minister Amit Shah to rush to Jammu and Kashmir, where first assembly elections since the abrogation of 370 were held in 2024.

Shah held a top level meeting till 1 am on Wednesday while the Prime Minister trimmed his Saudi visit and headed back to the country in urgency.

Modi reportedly held a meeting with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at the airport soon after returning to India.

"I strongly condemn the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that the injured recover at the earliest. All possible assistance is being provided to those affected.

"Those behind this heinous act will be brought to justice...they will not be spared! Their evil agenda will never succeed. Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakable and it will get even stronger," the Prime Minister wrote on X.

The attack, which coincided with US Vice-President JD Vance's four-day India visit, has left the booming tourism and the Centre's normalcy drive in jeopardy.

The tourists have already rushed to move out of the valley, which is called India's Switzerland and a paradise over its scenic beauty.

According to a report by The Indian Express, officials said the terrorists chose the peak tourist season in the valley, the cause of relentless Pakistan-sponsored attacks on India, to execute the plans.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who was elected only last year, said the attack was unprecedented in recent years.

"The death toll is still being ascertained so I don’t want to get in to those details. They will be officially conveyed as the situation becomes clearer. Needless to say this attack is much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years," he said on X.

The Kashmir Resistance, a lesser known militant organisation, claimed responsibility behind the attack on social media.

The terror group expressed dissatisfaction over the influx of outsiders into the state causing a demographic change.

"Consequently, violence will be directed toward those attempting to settle illegally," Reuters quoted the message without its independent verification.