Terrorists forced my father to recite Islamic verse: Pune victim's daughter

The daughter of a businessman from Pune who was shot in the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmirs Pahalgam has claimed that terrorists specifically targeted male tourists after asking them to identify their religionTwo businessmen from Maharashtras Pune Santosh Jagdale and Kaustubh Ganbote sustained gunshot wounds in the dastardly terrorist attack in Pahalgam on Tuesday and later succumbed officials saidTerrorists struck at a prime tourist location in Pahalgam in south Kashmir on Tuesday killing at least 26 persons mostly tourists and injuring several others according to officialsThe deceased included two foreigners from the UAE and Nepal and two locals they saidJagdale was part of a fivemember group which also included his wife Pragati daughter Asavari Kaustubh Ganbote and Sangita Ganbote who travelled to Pahalgam on TuesdayAsavari 26 a human resource professional in Pune told PTI that her father and uncle were shot by terrorists while they were at a stop called mini Switzerland in Betaab ValleyThere were several tourists around but the terrorists specifically targeted male tourists after asking whether they were Hindu or Muslim she saidThe family was on a vacation at the idyllic spot when they heard firing from people who wore clothes similar to those of local police descending from the nearby hillWe immediately rushed to a nearby tent for protection So did six to seven others tourists We all lay down on the ground as protection against the firing which we then assumed was between the terrorists and security personnel Asavari saidShe said the group of terrorists first came to a nearby tent and opened fire Then they came to our tent and asked my father to come out she saidThey said Chaudhari tu bahar aa ja Asavari saidThe terrorists then blamed them for supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi after which they made some statements to deny that Kashmiri militants kill innocent people women and children she saidThey then asked my father to recite an Islamic verse probably the Kalma When he failed to do so they pumped three bullets into him one on the head one behind the ear and another in the back she saidMy uncle was next to me The terrorists fired four to five bullets into him They shot several other males who were at the spotThere was nobody to help No police or army who reached 20 minutes later Even the locals there were reciting the Islamic verse she saidAsavari her mother and another female relative were spared and locals and security forces evacuated them to Pahalgam ClubThe people who took us to the spot on ponies helped us three women including myself and my mother make the return journey Later we underwent medical examination to check for injuries and were then shifted to Pahalgam Club she said After the firing started we ran along with other tourists Later the Indian Army reached the spot and rescued us she addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoeveratOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params