Bengaluru, 29 July

For the family of Bharath Bushan, who was killed in the Pahalgam attack, the news of the killing of the mastermind of the attack and his associates in 'Operation Mahadev' has brought a sense of relief.

26 people, mostly tourists, were killed by tourists.

Speaking to PTI videos on Tuesday, Bushan's father, Chennaveerappa, said "Hereafter, I think the government should ensure that no terrorists enter our land and kill innocent people... This should not happen again and the government should make sure that military personnel are posted in such areas".

He said deploying army personnel at the tourist spot could have prevented the attack and 26 precious lives could have been saved.

In ‘Operation Mahadev’, the Army's elite para commandos on Monday gunned down Sulieman alias Asif, the alleged mastermind of the 22 April attack, along with two of his associates, in an encounter at Mulnar in Harwan area near Dachigam National Park. The other terrorists killed in the action have been identified as Jibran, who was allegedly involved in the Sonamarg Tunnel attack last year, and Hamza Afghani.

Though Bushan's brother, Preetham, was relieved that the terrorists were eliminated, he lamented that nothing could bring his brother back.

"We are not going to get my brother back but I am very sure that the government and the armed forces have eliminated such evil people who would cause such kind of trauma for many other families so from that perspective," he said.