Pune/Mumbai: At least six tourists from Maharashtra, including two from Pune, were killed while two others from Panvel, three from Nagpur and one from Pune were injured amid a hail of terrorist gunfire in Pahalgam, Jammu & Kashmir, Tuesday. The tally is liable to rise. The deadliest carnage since the Pulwama attack of 2019 took a toll of over 25 lives.
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was in constant touch with Kashmir’s divisional commissioner Vijay Kumar Bidari. The names of the deceased are Santosh Jagdale and Kaustubh Ganbote of Pune, Dilip Desale of Panvel, Atul Mone, Hemant Joshi and Sanjay Lele of Kalyan-Dombivli.
Supervisor district emergency officer Mushtaq Ahmed from the emergency helpline in Srinagar confirmed the six deaths.
Manik Patel and S Bhalchandra Rao, both from Panvel, are seriously injured as is Jagdale’s wife from Pune. In addition, three members of the Rupchandani family from Nagpur too have been injured.
While the CM tweeted about Desale and Mone’s deaths, TOI found that Mone’s two relatives from Dombivli, Hemant Joshi and Sanjay Lele, were also killed. Their relatives confirmed so to TOI. The three, all between 45 and 50 years of age, had gone to Kashmir via Ahmedabad on Sunday with nine members of their family.
Officials from CMO had established contact with the Jagdale and Rupchandani families. Civil aviation minister Murlidhar Mohol met relatives of a few tourists from Pune.
A senior official from CMO said said the Pahalgam administration had despatched the list, but there were no specific details on their whereabouts in Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, NCP MP Supriya Sule had been approached by relatives of five other injured persons, suggesting that the tally of victims from Maharashtra would rise as information arrived.
Karvenagar resident Asawari Jagdale said the sudden attack saw the terrorists fire indiscriminately, causing bullet injuries to her father Santosh Jagdale, and uncle Kaustubh Ganbote.
Speaking to TOI over phone, Jagdale said, “We are five members of family from Dnyandeep Colony, lane number 2 at Karvenagar in Pune. We were sightseeing at Betaab valley (mini Switzerland) minutes before the attack. That is when the terrorists reached there and indiscriminately opened fire on the tourists. I don’t know what happened thereafter. Army authorities shifted the survivors to a safe place. I don’t know in which hospital my father and uncle have been shifted to for treatment.”
Santosh Jagdale (50), who worked with a public sector insurance company, is survived by his wife, Pragati (45), and daughter, Asawari (24). Kaustubh Ganbote, who ran a popular farsan brand business from Kondhwa and Rasta Peth, and Sangeeta Ganbote are their relatives.
TOI visited Jagdale’s residence on the ground floor of a ground-plus-two structure building late Tuesday evening.
Santosh’s sister-in-law, Jamuna, said, “We came to know about the terror attack after watching the news channels. Then we contacted Asawari and she told us three bullets had hit her father. We again tried to call them but failed to reach them.”
Another family member said, “We haven’t been able to contact them (Asawari & others) in J&K. We have nothing to talk about for now.”
Asawari and the four others had reached Kashmir three days ago with other members of a group associated with a private company.
Kaustubh’s son, Kunal Ganbote, told TOI, “We came to know about the attack when my mother called my uncle, Abhijit, from J&K and narrated the incident. She is fine but she was unable to share more details about the condition of my father. In fact, they got separated during the attack. I am at the Lohegaon airport on my way to Srinagar by air via Delhi and have nothing more to share about the incident for now.”
Thane zone-III DCP Atul Zende confirmed that three people from Dombivali — Sanjay Lele of Navapada Chowk, Subhash Road, Atul Mone of Samrat Chowk and Hemant Joshi had succumbed to bullet injuries. He said, “The terror attack claimed the lives of three individuals from Navapada, Pandurang Wadi, and Nandivli areas of Dombivli East and West. The deceased are Hemant Joshi, Sanjay Lele and Atul Mone. All three had travelled to Kashmir for tourism. They sustained injuries during the firing and succumbed during treatment.”
Priya Oak, who was travelling with Desale and his family, said she and Desale’s wife waited in the parking lot while Desale went sightseeing in the valley on horseback. “We were unaware what happened after that in the valley. Some people came back saying there was an attack. Later we found out that Desale was also shot.”
Oak preferred against sharing any more details as she was travelling with wife of Panvel resident Desale.
Meanwhile, Mumbai police officials asked all its senior personnel to remain alert. “It is to inform that all senior inspectors and zonal deputy commissioners of police are instructed to remain more alert and vigilant in their jurisdiction,” said a senior police officer. Intelligence personnel were also busy keeping vigil and monitoring the situation.
CM Fadnavis wrote on X, “I strongly condemn the cowardly terrorist attack in Pahalgam. My heartfelt tributes to the ones who lost lives. My deepest condolences to the families who lost their loved ones. We stand strongly with the bereaved families. Praying for speedy recovery of the injured ones. We are in touch with the senior officials of the J&K administration.”
He added, “Called and spoke to Kashmir’s Divisional Commissioner Vijaykumar Bidari and took detailed info. As per the information received so far, two tourists from Maharashtra have lost their lives, namely Dilip Disle and Atul Mone. As per the information given by the local administration, two persons from Maharashtra are injured in this terrorist attack. One of them is Manik Patel from Panvel and other is S Bhalchandra Rao. Fortunately condition of both is stable.”
In Navi Mumbai, DCP zone-2 Prashant Mohite said that a total of 39 tourists had gone to Jammu and Kashmir by booking through tour operator, Nisarga Travels, in Panvel. Among them, Dilip Desale, a resident of Khanda Colony, Panvel, was killed in the terror attack, while Subodh Patil, a resident of Panvel, has been injured, who was accompanied by his wife Manik Patil, who escaped unhurt, as informed by the tour operator after he communicated his other tourists. Due to the chaos after the terror attack and it seems like the Srinagar police have wrongly mentioned Manik Patel instead of Patil as injured tourist, when her husband Subodh has been injured, as per the information obtained from the tour operator. However, the actual details of injured and deceased will be available after it is updated by authorities concerned of J&K. The injured have been airlifted to a hospital in Srinagar and are undergoing treatment there. Otherwise, all the tourists are safe.”
Raigad district information officer Manish Pingale said, “While the CM’s tweet has confirmed that one injured tourist Manik Patel is from Panvel, it is yet to be confirmed whether the other injured tourist S Bhalchandra Rao is also from Panvel.”
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was in constant touch with Kashmir’s divisional commissioner Vijay Kumar Bidari. The names of the deceased are Santosh Jagdale and Kaustubh Ganbote of Pune, Dilip Desale of Panvel, Atul Mone, Hemant Joshi and Sanjay Lele of Kalyan-Dombivli.
Supervisor district emergency officer Mushtaq Ahmed from the emergency helpline in Srinagar confirmed the six deaths.
Manik Patel and S Bhalchandra Rao, both from Panvel, are seriously injured as is Jagdale’s wife from Pune. In addition, three members of the Rupchandani family from Nagpur too have been injured.
While the CM tweeted about Desale and Mone’s deaths, TOI found that Mone’s two relatives from Dombivli, Hemant Joshi and Sanjay Lele, were also killed. Their relatives confirmed so to TOI. The three, all between 45 and 50 years of age, had gone to Kashmir via Ahmedabad on Sunday with nine members of their family.
Officials from CMO had established contact with the Jagdale and Rupchandani families. Civil aviation minister Murlidhar Mohol met relatives of a few tourists from Pune.
A senior official from CMO said said the Pahalgam administration had despatched the list, but there were no specific details on their whereabouts in Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, NCP MP Supriya Sule had been approached by relatives of five other injured persons, suggesting that the tally of victims from Maharashtra would rise as information arrived.
Karvenagar resident Asawari Jagdale said the sudden attack saw the terrorists fire indiscriminately, causing bullet injuries to her father Santosh Jagdale, and uncle Kaustubh Ganbote.
Speaking to TOI over phone, Jagdale said, “We are five members of family from Dnyandeep Colony, lane number 2 at Karvenagar in Pune. We were sightseeing at Betaab valley (mini Switzerland) minutes before the attack. That is when the terrorists reached there and indiscriminately opened fire on the tourists. I don’t know what happened thereafter. Army authorities shifted the survivors to a safe place. I don’t know in which hospital my father and uncle have been shifted to for treatment.”
Santosh Jagdale (50), who worked with a public sector insurance company, is survived by his wife, Pragati (45), and daughter, Asawari (24). Kaustubh Ganbote, who ran a popular farsan brand business from Kondhwa and Rasta Peth, and Sangeeta Ganbote are their relatives.
TOI visited Jagdale’s residence on the ground floor of a ground-plus-two structure building late Tuesday evening.
Santosh’s sister-in-law, Jamuna, said, “We came to know about the terror attack after watching the news channels. Then we contacted Asawari and she told us three bullets had hit her father. We again tried to call them but failed to reach them.”
Another family member said, “We haven’t been able to contact them (Asawari & others) in J&K. We have nothing to talk about for now.”
Asawari and the four others had reached Kashmir three days ago with other members of a group associated with a private company.
Kaustubh’s son, Kunal Ganbote, told TOI, “We came to know about the attack when my mother called my uncle, Abhijit, from J&K and narrated the incident. She is fine but she was unable to share more details about the condition of my father. In fact, they got separated during the attack. I am at the Lohegaon airport on my way to Srinagar by air via Delhi and have nothing more to share about the incident for now.”
Thane zone-III DCP Atul Zende confirmed that three people from Dombivali — Sanjay Lele of Navapada Chowk, Subhash Road, Atul Mone of Samrat Chowk and Hemant Joshi had succumbed to bullet injuries. He said, “The terror attack claimed the lives of three individuals from Navapada, Pandurang Wadi, and Nandivli areas of Dombivli East and West. The deceased are Hemant Joshi, Sanjay Lele and Atul Mone. All three had travelled to Kashmir for tourism. They sustained injuries during the firing and succumbed during treatment.”
Priya Oak, who was travelling with Desale and his family, said she and Desale’s wife waited in the parking lot while Desale went sightseeing in the valley on horseback. “We were unaware what happened after that in the valley. Some people came back saying there was an attack. Later we found out that Desale was also shot.”
Oak preferred against sharing any more details as she was travelling with wife of Panvel resident Desale.
Meanwhile, Mumbai police officials asked all its senior personnel to remain alert. “It is to inform that all senior inspectors and zonal deputy commissioners of police are instructed to remain more alert and vigilant in their jurisdiction,” said a senior police officer. Intelligence personnel were also busy keeping vigil and monitoring the situation.
CM Fadnavis wrote on X, “I strongly condemn the cowardly terrorist attack in Pahalgam. My heartfelt tributes to the ones who lost lives. My deepest condolences to the families who lost their loved ones. We stand strongly with the bereaved families. Praying for speedy recovery of the injured ones. We are in touch with the senior officials of the J&K administration.”
He added, “Called and spoke to Kashmir’s Divisional Commissioner Vijaykumar Bidari and took detailed info. As per the information received so far, two tourists from Maharashtra have lost their lives, namely Dilip Disle and Atul Mone. As per the information given by the local administration, two persons from Maharashtra are injured in this terrorist attack. One of them is Manik Patel from Panvel and other is S Bhalchandra Rao. Fortunately condition of both is stable.”
In Navi Mumbai, DCP zone-2 Prashant Mohite said that a total of 39 tourists had gone to Jammu and Kashmir by booking through tour operator, Nisarga Travels, in Panvel. Among them, Dilip Desale, a resident of Khanda Colony, Panvel, was killed in the terror attack, while Subodh Patil, a resident of Panvel, has been injured, who was accompanied by his wife Manik Patil, who escaped unhurt, as informed by the tour operator after he communicated his other tourists. Due to the chaos after the terror attack and it seems like the Srinagar police have wrongly mentioned Manik Patel instead of Patil as injured tourist, when her husband Subodh has been injured, as per the information obtained from the tour operator. However, the actual details of injured and deceased will be available after it is updated by authorities concerned of J&K. The injured have been airlifted to a hospital in Srinagar and are undergoing treatment there. Otherwise, all the tourists are safe.”
Raigad district information officer Manish Pingale said, “While the CM’s tweet has confirmed that one injured tourist Manik Patel is from Panvel, it is yet to be confirmed whether the other injured tourist S Bhalchandra Rao is also from Panvel.”
