Srinagar/New Delhi, April 23 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited the terror attack site in Pahalgam’s Baisaran valley on Wednesday, where the terrorists unleashed mayhem a day ago, gunning down several tourists and injuring many others.
The Home Minister arrived at ground zero in an Army helicopter and took first-hand account information from the security officials, about the ghastly attacks that claimed over a dozen innocent lives.
The tourists were targeted, segregated on basis of religion and then brutally murdered by the terrorists in South Kashmir’s ‘mini Switzerland’ on Tuesday.
Before going to Baisaran, HM Shah went to the Government Medical College (GMC) Hospital in Anantnag where he met the injured tourists and enquired about the medical facilities there to aid in their speedy recovery.
As a mark of support and solidarity, the J&K Government had announced an ex-gratia of ₹10 lakh each for the families of the deceased, ₹2 lakh for those seriously injured, and ₹1 lakh for those with minor injuries.
At Baisaran HM Shah also spent some time in prayer for the departed souls. He interacted with Army, police and paramilitary officials about the operation to hunt down those responsible for the cowardly act.
The Home Minister’s visit to the terror attack site sends out a big message about the government’s priorities in cracking down on the terror network behind the massacre.
Moreover, the first-hand account information gathered by the Home Minister will be crucial, when he briefs the fellow members during the Cabinet Committee meet on Security Affairs (CCS) scheduled this evening.
Prior to this, Amit Shah also met Pahalgam terror attack survivors and also many families, who lost their loved ones in the dastardly terror attack. He heard them out, sought to console them over their loss, shared their pain and expressed solidarity with the grieving families.
As the videos surfaced, the survivors were seen crying and weeping and sharing their grief with the Home Minister. They demanded strictest action against the perpetrators.
Earlier in the day, the Home Minister along with J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and LG Manoj Sinha paid tributes to the tourists killed in the Pahalgam terror attack.
They visited the Srinagar police control room on Wednesday morning, where bodies of the slain tourists were kept. The Home Minister, CM and LG offered floral tributes by laying wreaths at the coffins of the deceased tourists.
Meanwhile, arrangements are being made to facilitate the return of the deceased tourists to their native towns.
The Civil Aviation Ministry has arranged four additional flights from Srinagar today, two each to Mumbai and Delhi and also instructed the airlines against skyrocketing of air fares.
A total protest shutdown called by traders, industrialists, political, social and religious organisations paralysed normal life across the Valley today.
Public transport, commercial establishments and educational institutions remained closed as very few vehicular movement was witnessed on roads and highways.
–IANS
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