Agra: Under the yellow tint of the streetlight, less than 24 hours after the Pahalgam terror attack, 25-year-old Mohammad Ghulfam was preparing to shut Shahid Ali Chicken Biryani restaurant for the night when three men on a motorbike pulled up outside. They looked like late customers. Before Ghulfam could tell them it was closed, one of them raised a gun and fired. Two shots cracked through the night.
Ghulfam’s bloodshot eyes met the shooter’s in confusion, as if asking, Why me? He clutched his chest. Collapsed. A pool of blood spread beneath him.
That is how Saif Ali, his cousin, remembered the night of 23 April. He was sweeping the floor of the family-run restaurant in Tajpur, Agra when he heard the gunshot. As he stepped out, another bullet was fired. He dived down to take cover, and a bullet grazed his shoulder.
A day after the murder, a video surfaced on social media. In it, a man wearing a blue vest—with two pistols partially visible, tucked into his jeans—took responsibility for the attack. Claiming to be a member of the Kshatriya Gau Raksha Dal in Agra. And he issued a threat: He would avenge the Pahalgam terror attack by “killing 2,600 [Muslims] in retaliation for 26 [tourists killed in Kashmir]”.
Now, Saif’s cousin is dead and he has a bandage wrapped around his right arm. One person has been arrested and the police have launched a hunt for the gunman.
“The killers didn’t let us speak. Didn’t ask anything. Simply shot at us. I called the neighbourhood boys and rushed Ghulfam bhai to the hospital. But he died on the way,” said 24-year-old Saif, surrounded by the mourning family.
Under the watch of the police, Gulfham’s body was buried in the graveyard in a hurry on 24 April.
This story was originally published in theprint.in. Read the full story here.