Pahalgam terror attack: Karnataka CM rushes minister to Kashmir to ensure safe return of Kannadigas

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has instructed Labour Minister Santosh Lad to rush to Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir where 26 people, including tourists, were killed in a terror attack and ensure the smooth return of the affected Kannadigas.

A team of officials was dispatched to Kashmir on Tuesday evening to rescue people stranded there following the attack, he said. There are reports of death of at least two people from Karnataka in the attack so far.

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 Pulwama strike in 2019.

The dead included two foreigners -- from UAE and Nepal -- and two locals, a high-ranking official said without getting into details. Officials said that 22 of the 26 victims have been identified and efforts are being made to ascertain the identity of the other four.

“The increasing number of deaths in the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, today has increased concern. My heart aches when I think of the innocent lives lost in the attack,” Siddaramaiah posted on ‘X’.

Praying for peace to the departed souls, he said, it is extremely sad that many Kannadigas who were on a trip have died. He said the state government will make all efforts to bring Kannadigas back to the state safely.

“Realising that more assistance is needed from our government in this regard, I have instructed Labour Minister Santosh Lad to go to Kashmir and oversee the entire operation,” he said on Tuesday.

A victim, identified as Bharath Bhushan from Bengaluru, was shot dead by the terrorists while his wife Sujatha and their three-year-old son were spared, sources said. Another person, a realtor from Shivamogga, Manjunath Rao was also killed in Pahalgam.