CUTTACK: Sometimes, quick thinking and staying calm during moments of adversity can help save life. This is exactly what happened with this family of four from Cuttack which had a close brush with death during the terrorist attack at Baisaran Valley in Pahalgam on April 22.
Sixty-nine-year-old Ranjit Kumar Bhol, his wife Sashi Kumari Nayak (65), younger son Sandeep (35) and daughter-in-law Lelina Subhadarshini (33) had gone to Kashmir to celebrate the latter’s marriage anniversary and visited Baisaran on the fateful day.
Just like others, the four were immersed in the beauty of the place, when they heard the first firing sound. This was followed by chaos from other tourists and more firing which is when they realised something terrible had happened.
Narrating their harrowing experience, Ranjit said they reached Baisaran valley at around 2 pm. “My son and daughter-in-law were clicking pictures which is when we heard the first firing sound. Without thinking much, my son asked us all to hide. Luckily there was a garments display rack and we hid behind it. Peeping from behind, we saw four terrorists emerge from the jungle and asking male tourists to recite Kalma. Whoever identified as a Hindu and failed to recite Kalma was immediately shot dead,” Ranjit said.
He further said that they saw the terrorists shoot three people dead in front of their eyes. “We were, however, lucky to survive. The terrorists were just 4-5 metre away from where we were hiding. One terrorist killed a woman’s husband and when she asked him to kill her too, the former told her to narrate the incident to PM Narendra Modi. I will never forget what I saw,” said Sashi, who has sustained a fracture in her wrist while attempting to escape through the muddy terrains.
Ranjit and his family made their way back to Cuttack on Saturday night.