Pahalgam terror attack LIVE: India suspends Indus Water Treaty

Prashant Satpathy, who was shot dead by terrorists in front of his wife and nine-year-old son in Baisaran meadow, had saved money for months for their Kashmir trip and was really excited for it, his family said on Wednesday.

Upon hearing the news of her son’s death, Satpathy’s mother has turned mute in shock, his elder brother Sushant said.

“Prashant had saved money for months for the trip and was really excited for it,” he said.

An accounts assistant with the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET) in Odisha's Balasore district, Prashant, 41, had gone to Kashmir with his wife and son on LTC.

“Prashant was shot in the head while we were alighting from a ropeway in Baisaran... He collapsed on the spot. The Army came an hour later,” his wife Priya Darshani Achariya told an Odia news channel from Jammu and Kashmir.

She, along with her son Tanuj Kumar Satpathy and three of Prashant’s relatives who rushed to Srinagar after hearing about the attack, will accompany the body which is expected to arrive in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday night.

Railways will run a special unreserved train from Katra to New Delhi at 9:20 pm on Wednesday for those who want to cut short their trip to Jammu and Kashmir and return to their respective destinations, an official said.

Reports suggested that several tourists at various places in Jammu wanted to return to their respected cities in the wake of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam.

“Considering the urgency, we have immediately arranged a special train for all classes of passengers to return to their home cities,” Himanshu Upadhyay, Chief Public Relation Officer, Northern Railway, said.

The train, after starting from Sri Vaishno Devi Katra at 9.20 pm, will halt at several other stations en route such as Udhampur, Jammu, Pathankot, Jalandhar, Ambala, Kurukshetra and Panipat before terminating at the New Delhi Railway Station at 9.30 am on Thursday.

“This train will have seven general, eight sleeper and three AC coaches,” Upadhyay said.

He added, “If the number of passengers exceeds this train’s capacity, we have a backup plan to run more such special trains at the earliest.”

In the aftermath of a terror attack in Pahalgam, several travel agencies in Delhi said on Wednesday that nearly 90 per cent bookings for Jammu and Kashmir have been cancelled by tourists over safety concerns. Some tourists are negotiating to shift their plans to alternative destinations, they said.

The players of Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians will wear black armbands during their IPL match on Wednesday. The match will not feature cheerleaders and fireworks to mourn the victims of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam.

The teams will also observe a minute’s silence to pay their respects to those affected by the incident that has drawn international condemnation.

A team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) led by an Inspector General on Wednesday reached terror-hit Pahalgam.

The team will provide assistance to the local police probing Tuesday’s dastardly terrorist attack. The anti-terror agency’s team visited the Baisaran meadow near Pahalgam, the spot of the terrorist strike.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said six of the 26 people gunned down by terrorists in Pahalgam hailed from the state and their bodies are being brought back.

He also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh for the next of kin of each deceased hailing from the state.

Citizens can contact 022-22027990 for information about tourists and their families stranded in Kashmir.

Numbers of the help desk set up at Srinagar district collectorate: 0194-2483651, 0194-2463651, 0194-2457543

WhatsApp numbers: 7006058623, 7780805144, 7780938397

Not in my name. That was the clear message that went out from Kashmir on Wednesday, with people pouring into the streets across towns and villages to express their anguish and condemn the terror attack in Pahalgam.

Srinagar city and other parts of Kashmir witnessed a shutdown, the first in Kashmir in nearly six years. While Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti apologised to the people of the country and said Kashmiris were ashamed of the incident during a protest march in Srinagar, the ruling National Conference too marched to the Lal Chowk city centre to protest against the attack.

People from all walks of life denounced the attack on the tourists, saying the perpetrators were hitting at the foundation of the valley’s economy. “This should not happen — not in the name of Kashmir and not in the name of Islam. Islamic teachings value human life to the point that taking an innocent life is akin to killing entire humanity,” Haji Bashir Ahmad Dar, a resident of Srinagar city, told PTI.

Protests were also held in south Kashmir districts, where locals had swarmed the streets in 2016 following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani.

At a protest in Kulgam, GM Banday, a fruit grower, said the government should take steps to eradicate the menace of terrorism so that incidents like the Baisaran attack do not recur.

“People of Kashmir have always been against terrorism. However, conspiracies are being hatched to malign the Kashmiri community and hit the local economy. Such acts affect the livelihood of the local youth,” Banday said.

“We are with the government in whatever steps they take to eradicate terror,” he added.

Mohammad Iqbal, a trader from Kulgam, said the attack was aimed at crippling the economy of Kashmir.

“Our innocent brothers and sisters who had come to visit Kashmir were targeted. Every Kashmiri is sad over the killings, which should not have taken place. Our trade is linked to tourism, and if tourist arrivals drop, it will hit the local economy. The local trade has been in doldrums for the past few years,” he said.

Tauseef Ahmad War, a social activist, was among the protesters in Handwara town of Kupwara district in north Kashmir. “We are protesting here to send a message to the world that Kashmiris are not with terrorism, we condemn the attack on tourists in Pahalgam,” he said.

Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar, Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, said the perpetrators of the attack were neither the adherents of Islam nor the well-wishers of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

“Whoever did this, they neither belong to our religion nor to the people of J-K. The people of J-K are saying that such acts of terror should not be done in our name or in the name of our religion. We hope that the perpetrators are brought to justice soon,” the National Conference leader said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have stressed that terrorism and violent extremism remain among the gravest threats to humanity and there cannot be any justification for any act of terror for any reason whatsoever, according to a joint statement issued on Wednesday.

The two leaders have stressed the need to prevent access to weapons, including missiles and drones, to commit terror acts against other countries.

On Tuesday, Modi delayed his scheduled meeting with the Saudi crown prince by at least two hours to assess the situation in Kashmir after the Pahalgam terror attack. The prime minister, who held bilateral talks with the Saudi crown prince, skipped an official dinner before returning home on Tuesday night.

“Both sides strongly condemned the gruesome terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir on 22 April, 2025, which claimed the lives of innocent civilians. In this context, the two sides condemned terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations, and emphasised that this remains one of the gravest threats to humanity. They agreed that there cannot be any justification for any act of terror for any reason whatsoever,” the statement said.

“They rejected any attempt to link terrorism to any particular race, religion or culture. They welcomed the excellent cooperation between the two sides in counter-terrorism and terror financing,” it added.

The two leaders condemned cross-border terrorism and called on all countries to reject the use of terrorism against others, dismantle terror infrastructure where it exists and bring perpetrators of terrorism to justice swiftly.

“Both sides stressed the need to prevent access to weapons including missiles and drones to commit terrorist acts against other countries,” the statement said.

Despite reeling from the aftermath of devastating flash floods and multiple landslides, residents of Jammu and Kashmir’s Ramban district on Wednesday observed a complete shutdown and staged peaceful protests to condemn the Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 dead and several injured.

The joint protest by the Muslim and Hindu communities, probably for the first time in the history of this town along the strategic Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, was led by Islamic scholars who demanded decisive action against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism to wipe out the menace haunting the region for the past more than 35 years.

“We are already battling nature’s fury, and now this senseless attack has deepened our wound. We condemn this act, which is against the teachings of Islam,” Gul Mohammad Farooqi, Imam of Jamia Masjid of Bowli Bazar, told PTI.

The attack has sparked outrage across Jammu and Kashmir, but in Ramban, which is still grappling with destruction, the pain felt even more personal.

“It is not just a protest but our collective mourning. We stand for peace even when everything around feels broken,” Farooqi said amid chanting of anti-Pakistan and anti-terrorism slogans by the grieving people.

Calling for exemplary punishment to the perpetrators of the attack, the Imam said the time has come to take appropriate revenge by destroying the neighbouring country which is supporting terror in Jammu and Kashmir so that “this crime and oppression against humanity is put to an end and allow people to live in peace”.

He said the people are ready to join the fight and finish off the enemy.

Ali Hassan, another Imam leading prayers at Jamia Masjid at Maitra, said, “We want full use of the country’s might against the enemy which has been bleeding us time and again since 1947. How long are we going to suffer? This attack is barbaric and condemnable, as people were killed in front of their children and wives. They have not only killed innocents, but also hit our economy.” This is not Jihad (holy war) but sheer terrorism. Innocent people who have come to enjoy the natural beauty were targeted, he added.

Mufti Nazir of Cafeteria Morh mosque said the attack was carried out to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere and harm the communal harmony, and is a blot on the famed Kashmir hospitality in an attempt to derail the tourism sector.

“This is the murder of humanity. We appeal to the central government to eliminate terrorism which is emanating from the neighbouring country... it should be given a befitting reply," he said.