New Delhi:
CCTV footage from a market downhill from the picturesque meadow of Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baisaran valley showed tourists including children running and vehicles speeding down the road, an hour after the terror attack began.
The footage timestamp matched the time on April 22 i.e. one hour after the terrorists with cross-border linkages started shooting at tourists, sources said.
The tourists, including elderly people, who were seen running in the CCTV came to the market downhill from Baisaran’s higher ground using a route that the terrorists had not blocked, sources said.
Some of the vehicles seen in the footage were carrying injured people, they said.
The terrorists killed 26 tourists and disappeared into the forest. The terror attack was seen from multiple angles in videos taken by survivors.
A tourist who took a zipline ride took a selfie in which people were seen falling to bullets while they tried to run away from the direction where terrorists were approaching.
Following the terror attack – one of the deadliest on civilians in the Union Territory – India announced a series of measures against Pakistan, as the terrorists had cross-border linkages.
India banned all Pakistani visas and suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, among other measures.
India has always pointed at Pakistan’s policy of sending terrorists to attack Indian forces and civilians in Jammu and Kashmir as a big reason for rise in tension between the two neighbours.
The security forces have been searching multiple locations in Jammu and Kashmir as part of a wider crackdown on terrorists.
A SriLankan Airlines flight was also searched in Colombo airport on Saturday over suspicion that some suspects in the Pahalgam terror attack case were likely on board. The aircraft was later cleared for take-off after a thorough check.