They asked "Are you Modi ke Admi?" and shot father dead: Central government employee's daughter recounts Pahalgam terror attack

Kolkata: Three residents from West Bengal, two of them from Kolkata, were among 27 people killed in the terror attacks at J&K's Pahalgam on Tuesday. The three were on vacation and travelled to that state along with their family members.

Bitan Adhikari of Baishnabghata ( Patuli) and Samir Guga from Sakher Bazar in Behala, both were from south Kolkata and Manish Ranjan Mishra, a resident of Jhalda in Purulia, an IB officer was posted in Hyderabad, were gunned down after terrorists asked for their identity, the wife of a slain resident said.

Sabari Guha, whose husband Samir Guha (52), a Central government employee, said they were having a photo shoot by a professional photographer, and were asked to lie down as gun shots rang from a distance. "Then I saw my husband and another person being shot to death," Sabari Guha was quoted as saying.

"We did not expect such a fate awaited us," said Sabari Guha told the media.

Bitan Adhikari, an IT employee based in Florida, who came on vacation with his wife Sohini and three-year-old son Hadan, was also killed in the attacks.

The trio came to the city on April 8 and travelled to Kashmir on April 16 and were scheduled to return on Thursday, Sohini Adhikari said.

Samir Guha, ( 52), a Central government employee who was scheduled to return on Wednesday was also killed but his wife Sabari Giha and the daughter were spared.

She said suddenly some masked men surrounded them and asked them to lie down and picked her husband and another and shot them dead.

One of the neighbours of Guha had a brief talk with the daughter on the phone and she said the assailants first asked if they were "Modi ke Admi" and shot her father dead.

Manish Ranjan Mishra, a resident of Jhalda in Purulia, was also on holiday in J&K along with wife and children, was shot dead. He was an IB officer and was posted in Hyderabad. He came home and then went to Pahalgam on vacation.

The West Bengal government is in touch with the bereaved family members to bring them back safely with their dead husbands.