Assam CMO makes contact with survivor, assures family's return on priority

Guwahati (Assam) [India], April 23 (ANI): The office of Assam Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, on Wednesday made contact with a survivor from the state, stranded among other tourists in the Kashmir valley, in the wake of the Pahalgam terrorist attack and assured their family's return at the earliest.
The CMO said that the state government remains in touch with the central government to assist the survivor's family in their return to Assam.
"The CM Office Assam has spoken to a survivor from Assam of the dastardly Pahalgam Terror Attack and has taken a full brief of the incident which they have faced yesterday. The entire family's return to the State is being arranged on priority and the government of Assam is in touch with government of India to bring the family back to Assam at the earliest," Assam CMO posted on X.
Earlier, Assam CM Sarma asserted that those responsible for the Pahalgam terror attack would be "hunted down".
"I have full faith that Bharat will hunt down each and every one of those cowards responsible for the dastardly attack in Pahalgam today. The entire nation stands firmly with the bereaved families in this hour of grief," Sarma posted on X.
Amid heightened security concerns, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday directed the state administration to ease the flow of traffic between Srinagar and Jammu for the tourists trying to leave the valley for their homes.
He said that it was heartbreaking yet understandable to see tourists leaving the valley after the brutal terrorist attacks, which took several lives and left many injured. The CM said that the facilitation of traffic must be done in a controlled way since the road remains unstable.
He said that the government was making efforts to clear all the stranded vehicles.
"We are also working hard to clear all the stranded vehicles. We will not be able to permit completely free movement of vehicles at the moment & we hope that everyone will cooperate with us," Abdullah said.
The Jammu and Kashmir (J-K) Government has announced ex-gratia worth Rs 10 lakh each for the families of deceased victims and Rs 2 lakh for those who sustained serious injuries.
This has been one of the biggest terror attacks after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. The government, however, has yet to officially confirm the number of casualties in the terror attack in Pahalgam.
Following the terror attack, security forces launched search operations to track down the terrorists responsible. Security has been heightened since the attack, with visuals from the area showing the streets deserted in the usually bustling tourist area. Many organisations have also called for a Jammu bandh following the attack. (ANI)