'Ran in opposite direction, took cover in narrow pit': Mysuru techie's blow-by-blow account of Pahalgam horror

Prasanna Kumar Bhat shared a picture on X.

As security forces intensify efforts to nab the terrorists who gunned down 26 civilians in a ghastly attack at the Baisaran meadows near Pahalgam, a Karnataka techie recounted how the events unfolded on April 22.

"We survived the horror to tell the story of what can only be described as monstrous act and paint the heavenly beauty blood-red with hellfire," Prasanna Kumar Bhat, a software engineer from Karnataka, wrote on X, sharing the survivor account of a dark day in a detailed social media post.

Yet another survival story from the tainted Baisaran valley in Pahalgam. We survived the horror to tell the story of what can only be described as monstrous act and paint the heavenly beauty blood-red with hellfire.By the grace of the God, luck, and some quick thinking from pic.twitter.com/00ln2y0DJo

Prasanna Kumar Bhat (@prasannabhat38) April 25, 2025

Bhat claimed that his brother, a senior Indian Army officer, saved the lives of about 40 people by guiding them to safety. "By the grace of the God, luck, and some quick thinking from an Army officer saved not only our life but lives of another 35-40 people that day," he wrote.

The techie shared that he went to Baisaran valley along with his wife, brother and sister-in-law. He recalled hearing the first two gunshots that were followed by “a pin drop silence” as everyone tried to comprehend what just happened. He said that within moments, he and his family saw two bodies lying, and his brother “knew immediately that this was a terrorist attack.”

"Then the hellfire broke, the gunshots came in bursts and chaos ensued. There was cacophony of the crowd screaming out loud and running for life," his post read on X.

"So most of the crowd ran towards the gate for escape where the terrorists were already waiting, like sheeps running to the tiger. We could see a terrorist approaching in our direction, so we decided to run the other way and fortunately we found a narrow opening under the fence and most of the people hiding slide through the fence and started running the other way," Bhat added.

He said that his brother quickly assessed the situation and guided his family, along with 35-40 tourists, in the opposite direction. "He guided the people to run in the downward direction to move away from the place where the firing was happening. It was a slope where the water stream was flowing so gave some level of protection from direct line of sight. It was very slippery to run on the muddy slope but many slipped but managed to run for life," he recalled.

"We four managed to take a cover in a narrow pit under the trees a few hundred metres from the location desperately praying for our lives. The sound of the gun shots continued to echo through the valley for half an hour until 3 pm," he continued.

"We stayed put in the pit for an hour petrified, hopeless, and praying for safety. We didn't know if we had to stay put in the same place or run in some random direction hoping to escape the death trap. All the while thinking about our little children and parents who we had left behind home and not knowing when this will end," he added.

By 3.40 pm, the sound of a helicopter then signalled the arrival of security forces. By 4 pm, the army special forces secured the area and escorted survivors to safety. "The gun shots still echoes in our ears and the terror still makes my gut wrench. This will leave a permanent scar, a memory that cannot be erased of what Kashmir's beauty hides underneath," he wrote.

"I pray that nobody ever has to go through such experience of terror in their life. We pray for their souls and I hope God will provide justice to them. Finally I want to express my gratitude to my brother and the entire Indian Army because of whom we are alive to narrate this incident in person and be back together with our family," Bhat wrote, adding that he and his family have safely returned to Mysuru.