Terrorists didn’t ask me about religion, but asked others: Deceased tourist Manjunath Rao’s wife

Shivamogga: The deceased tourist Manjunath Rao’s wife, Pallavi, said on Monday that terrorists didn’t ask them about their religion before killing Rao, but asked the other tourists about their identities during the mayhem in Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22.

“The terrorists did not ask us about our religion. My husband was shot from a short distance. However, everyone I met there told me that the terrorists asked Hindus and Muslims to separate. The fellow tourists also shared with me that after asking about their religious identities and confirming that they were Hindus, their dear ones were shot dead,” said Pallavi while responding to a media question regarding Minister for Excise R.B. Timmapur’s claims that he doesn’t believe terrorists asked about their religion.

She added that Rao was shot in the neck, while the army officer was also shot in the neck. “It was targeted shooting, not random. They fired indiscriminately,” she claimed.

When asked about the conversation between a terrorist and her son, where the terrorist called him (son) a “dog”, Pallavi said: “My son and I spoke to the terrorist. The terrorist asked us to go and tell Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I have also been informed that a National Investigation Agency (NIA) team will visit us.”

She said that her family reached Pahalgam around 12.30 pm and arrived at Baisaran by about 1.30 pm, adding that the terror attack happened barely five minutes after they got down from the horse.

“The tragedy occurred within five minutes of reaching the spot. Later, we spent an hour asking for help. The army officer, who was also hit, was standing very close to my husband. His wife pleaded to take him for treatment. He was still breathing. However, in that situation, it was not possible,” she recounted.

She said that the officer stopped breathing only after about five minutes.

On Sunday, Karnataka Excise Minister R. B. Timmapur claimed that he does not think that the terrorists would have asked the victims about their religion before killing them.

“A terrorist who is shooting, how can he ask about religion or caste? He will just kill people and leave. One has to think practically. The terrorists can’t stand there, question the religion of the victim and then shoot,” he said.

Pallavi, the tourist who lost her husband Manjunath in the attack, claimed 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 that he would not harm them and instead instructed them to inform Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the attack.

At least 26 tourists were killed on Tuesday after gunmen opened fire on innocent civilians in Baisaran in Jammu and Kashmir.

According to eyewitness accounts, a group of heavily armed terrorists emerged from the nearby forests and opened indiscriminate fire on civilians, most of whom were tourists.

Baisran is a small meadow three to four km from the Pahalgam market, and tourists take horses to reach the place as there is no motorable road to it.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also cut short his Saudi Arabia trip due to the terror attack.

He had a brief meeting with NSA Ajit Doval, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri at the airport.

PM Modi strongly condemned the terror attack, stating that the guilty will be brought to justice and reaffirming India’s “unshakable” resolve to fight terrorism.

IANS