‘We Removed Our Bindis And Threw Them Away’: Wife Of Slain Pune Resident Kaustubh Ganbote Recounts Pahalgam Horror To Sharad Pawar (VIDEO) | Sourced
NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday paid his last respects to Kaustubh Ganbote, the Pune resident who lost his life in the horrific Pahalgam terror attack. Visiting the bereaved family at their home, Pawar listened as Ganbote’s wife, Sangita, recounted the traumatic events surrounding the tragedy.
She said tearfully, “The terrorists told us to recite the Kalma… there were four of them. There were security personnel there… even if there had been just one guard, it would have helped. My husband’s friend was sitting in a corner; they called him and asked, ‘Azaan padhta hai kya?’ After hearing this, all of us women immediately removed our bindis and threw them away so they wouldn’t kill us. We started chanting God’s name, but by then, the terrorists had already killed my husband and his friend.”
Pawar also visited the residence of Ganbote’s friend, Santosh Jagdale, who was also killed in the attack.
Jagdale’s daughter, Asavari, earlier recounted the horror. She said the family was on vacation at the idyllic spot when they heard gunfire from “people who wore clothes similar to those of local police” descending from the nearby hill.
“We immediately rushed to a nearby tent for protection. So did six to seven others (tourists). We all lay down on the ground as protection against the firing, which we then assumed was between the terrorists and security personnel,” Asavari said.
She said the group of terrorists first came to a nearby tent and opened fire. “Then they came to our tent and asked my father to come out,” she said. The terrorists blamed them for supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after which they made statements denying that Kashmiri militants kill innocent people, women and children, she added.
“They then asked my father to recite the Kalma. When he failed to do so, they pumped three bullets into him—one in the head, one behind the ear, and another in the back,” she said.
“My uncle was next to me. The terrorists fired four to five bullets into him. They shot several other men who were at the spot. There was nobody to help—no police or army. They arrived 20 minutes later,” she added.
