STATE TIMES NEWS
SRINAGAR: Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Srinagar to review the security situation in Kashmir following a deadly terror attack in Pahalgam in which 26 people were killed, officials said.
Hours after the attack on tourists, Shah rushed to Srinagar and drove straight to the Raj Bhavan from the airport.
Modi cuts short Saudi visit
Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police Nalin Prabhat briefed the home minister upon his arrival. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan and Director of Intelligence Bureau Tapan Deka were present at the time of the briefing. The officials had earlier said Shah was scheduled to chair a high-level meeting of security officials. The home minister is likely to visit Pahalgam on Wednesday, they added. Terrorists opened fire at a famed meadow near Kashmir’s Pahalgam town on Tuesday afternoon, killing 26 people, mostly tourists, in what is the deadliest attack in the valley since the 2019 Pulwama strike.
The dead included two foreigners and two locals, a high ranking official said without getting into details.
The toll is still being ascertained, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said while describing the terror attack as “much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years”.
Baisaran, about six kilometres from the resort town of Pahalgam, is an expansive meadow ringed by dense pine forests and mountains and a favourite with visitors from across the country and the world.
Armed terrorists came into the grassland, dubbed “mini Switzerland”, and started firing at tourists milling around eateries, taking pony rides or picnicking, officials and eyewitnesses said.
As news of the attack spread, The Resistance Front (TRF), a shadow group of the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror group, claimed responsibility.
The officials said it was possible members of the terror group crossed over from Kishtwar in Jammu and reached Baisaran through Kokernag in south Kashmir.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi abruptly ended his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia and decided to return to New Delhi on Tuesday night following a deadly terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir, government sources said.
Modi, who held bilateral talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, skipped an official dinner hosted on Tuesday to address the crisis, they added.
He was originally scheduled to return to India on Wednesday night.
Modi, who arrived in Jeddah on Tuesday afternoon, delayed a scheduled meeting with the Saudi Crown Prince by at least two hours on Tuesday evening to assess the situation in Kashmir.
Terrorists opened fire at a famed meadow near Pahalgam town in Jammu and Kashmir, killing 26 people, mostly tourists, in what is the deadliest attack in the Valley since the Pulwama strike in 2019.
