Pony ride operators were first to help: Pahalgam attack survivor

Mumbai | Pony ride operators were the first to help him after he was injured by a terrorist's bullet during the April 22 attack on tourists in Pahalgam, 60-year-old Subodh Patil said on Friday.

Patil, who underwent treatment at the army hospital in Pahalgam, returned to his home in Kamothe in Navi Mumbai on Thursday night along with his wife.

Speaking to reporters, he became emotional recounting the incidents of that day, and thanked the pony ride operators who helped the injured after the attack.

"I was unconscious due to a bullet injury in the neck. When I regained consciousness, I found dead bodies around me. After seeing me moving, a group of pony ride operators came up and offered me water," said Patil.

"The pony ride operator we had hired was among them. He said I should not worry about my wife, she was safe." "Another man helped me stand up, offering me his shoulder for support, and asked if I could walk," Patil recalled, adding they kept telling him not to be scared.

The pony ride operators took him outside the compound and gave him a cot to sit on.

"After some time they brought a vehicle, and took me to the medical facility of the Indian Army. From there I was flown out in a helicopter and shifted to the army hospital," Patil said.

Narrating how the attack unfolded, he said the terrorists asked all the Hindu tourists, including him, to stand in a line.

Some of them pleaded with the terrorists, but to no avail. Whoever tried to resist was shot immediately.

A bullet grazed his neck, causing an injury.

Patil also remembered Desale, a resident of the nearby New Panvel township, who was one of the six Maharashtrian tourists killed in the attack that day.

"We both had arrived at the site together," he said.

Desale opted for a ropeway ride, and he and his wife also had their pictures taken in the traditional Kashmiri attire, Patil recalled.

When the terrorists opened fire, Patil and others in his group did not take notice immediately.

"After some time the sound of gunfire increased, and we turned back and saw people were running to save their lives," he said.

Everything happened in a span of five minutes but he would never be able to forget those five minutes, said Patil.