Pahalgam terrorist attack: Terrorists mingled with crowd, herded them towards armed members who killed toursists at Baisaran

Chairs lying around outside a makeshift shops at Baisaran of Pahalgam where 26 people were killed and several others injured on April 22.
| Photo Credit: IMRAN NISSAR

After the first gunshots were fired at the Baisaran meadow in South Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22, two terrorists who had earlier mingled with the tourists, herded the startled crowd towards two other armed terrorists, who then segregated and killed the people based on religion, a senior government official said on Saturday (May 3, 2025).

Twenty-five tourists and a local pony operator were killed in the terror attack.

Also read | Responding to the terror attack in Pahalgam

The attack happened at two to three points within 50 metres of the entry-cum-exit point at Baisaran and so far, it appears that four men were involved. The meadow is fenced from all sides.

“The two terrorists knew the crowd would scatter after hearing the gunshots, and they deliberately herded the people towards the armed terrorists,” said the official.

The official added they received specific intelligence input on an attack at “hotels” in Srinagar and Dachigham on April 19, the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to inaugurate the Katra-Sangaldan stretch of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link. After the Prime Minister’s visit was cancelled due to inclement weather, the tourists were targeted at Baisaran.

“A lot of chatter was picked up by security agencies for a month before the terror attack on April 22. This is why senior police officers were stationed in Srinagar four to five days prior to the attack and they were also trying to build on the information,” said the official.

A second official said the input was generic and suggested that the target could be “security personnel deployed at hotels”.

The first official added that it took more than one and a half hours for the Army to reach the site as they waited for mobilisation of adequate personnel. A second official explained that this was a tactical move to avoid collateral damage to the security forces.

By the time reinforcement reached Baisaran, accessible only by foot or ponies, the terrorists fled into the forests.

On April 24, at an all-party meeting, Home Minister Amit Shah informed MPs that tourists were sent to Baisaran by nearby hotels without informing the police. He said there was no security presence at the place on the day of the incident, and the tourist site is usually provided with security before the Amarnath Yatra begins. This year, the site was expected to open for tourists on June 15, with the yatra commencing on July 3, the MPs were informed.

However, the first official quoted above said Baisaran meadow is open throughout the year except during the Amarnath pilgrimage. The tender to maintain the tourist site was awarded to a Bijbehara resident in August 2024 for ₹3 crore and there is no government order suggesting that it is a regulated area under security watch.

The official added that two locals from South Kashmir who were said to be involved in the attacks went to Pakistan in 2017-18 through the Attari-Wagah integrated check-point in Punjab. “We mined the data of people who went to Pakistan but did not return, and the names of the two Kashmiri men was flagged by the system, which makes us believe that they could be involved in the terror attack,” the official added.

The official said that post the attack, the homes of nine people with terror records were blown up in south and north Kashmir and the demolitions had since stopped.

“It was reasoned with the Home Ministry that bombing the homes of terrorists who left years ago does not serve any purpose. It only leads to alienation and outpouring of emotions and the spontaneous support that we witnessed after the killings would have been wasted had the demolitions not been stopped,” the official said.

Explaining the possibility of local support to terrorists, the official said that the terrorists who infiltrated from Pakistan were depending less on local people for food and supplies.

“We have noticed that they barge into locked shops, pick up whatever items they want and leave behind double the cash and a note of apology for the inconvenience they could have caused. The Baisaran attack would not have happened without the help of a local guide though,” said the official.

He said the Gujjar-Bakkarwal community are the ones who operate ponies in the area and it is being investigated if they noticed any outsiders days before the attack.