A seemingly ordinary trip to Kashmir turned chilling for a young man from Jalna, Maharashtra—one that now feels like he brushed shoulders with terror itself.
Adarsh Raut, who had returned from a vacation in the Kashmir Valley just days ago, revealed a disturbing interaction that might be linked to the horrific Pahalgam terror attack which left 26 tourists dead and dozens injured. The attack, which took place on April 22 near a picturesque meadow in Anantnag district, sent shockwaves across the country. But for Raut, it stirred something far more personal—a memory that had been quietly gnawing at him since his return.
It happened a day earlier, on April 21. Raut was horse riding through the scenic Baisaran Valley in Pahalgam when he stopped at a makeshift “Maggi stall” for a quick bite. That’s when a stranger walked up to him, looked him in the eye, and asked a question that seemed innocuous at first—but now echoes with eerie significance.
“Hindu ho kya? You don’t look like you are from Kashmir.”
Raut says the man’s tone was casual, but something about the moment felt off. What came next felt stranger still. The man turned to his companion and remarked, “There’s less crowd today.”
“I didn’t think much of it at the time,” Raut admitted. “It felt odd, yes—but I brushed it off. It was only after the attack the next day that the words started making sense in a darker context.”
In the aftermath of the massacre, when security agencies released sketches of three suspects believed to be behind the carnage, one face caught Raut’s attention. He claims it was the very man who had spoken to him at the food stall.
Connecting the dots, Raut immediately penned a detailed email to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), recounting everything he remembered—from the strange conversation to the minor detail of struggling to pay the stall owner due to poor mobile network.
“I took the stall owner’s number and paid him later when I got back down,” he said, underscoring just how normal the day had seemed—until it wasn’t.
So far, Raut hasn’t heard back from the NIA. “If they reach out, I’ll cooperate fully. I feel it’s important they know everything, no matter how small it seems.”
