Kanpur, Apr 23 (PTI) Shubham Dwivedi, a 31-year-old businessman from Kanpur, got married just two months back on February 12. On Tuesday, a pal of gloom descended on the Dwivedi household as news came in that he was gunned down right in front of his wife in Kashmir’s Pahalgam.

Shubham was among the 26 persons, mostly tourists, who were killed at Baisaran near the resort town of Pahalgam in Anantnag district, in one of the most gruesome attacks targeting civilians in Kashmir in a long time.

Shubham, who ran a company dealing in cement, had gone to Kashmir on a week-long vacation on April 16 with his wife and nine other family members.

The group, including Shubham’s parents, sister, brother-in-law, and her sister’s in-laws, visited Sonamarg and Gulmarg before reaching Pahalgam, sources said.

According to Manoj Dwivedi, Shubham’s uncle living next-door in Kanpur, the newly-wed couple decided to go horse riding around noon on Tuesday while the rest of the family hung out near their hotel.

However, the couple’s joyride soon turned into a nightmare as two to three terrorists reportedly approached them, sought to know their identities before shooting Shubham on the head, killing him instantly in front of his wife, said Manoj Dwivedi, who received the tragic news from Shubham’s father Sanjay Dwivedi over phone.

According to Shubham’s cousin Saurabh Dwivedi, the terrorists first asked Shubham to recite a ‘kalma’ (Islamic declaration of faith). As he failed to do so, they shot him on the head, Saurabh told mediapersons.

After killing Shubham, one of the terrorists reportedly turned to his wife and said, “Tell your government what we did to your husband,” Saurabh said.

The grieving family was scheduled to fly back to Delhi on Wednesday after completing their trip. Their relatives from Kanpur have left for Delhi to receive the family and bring back Shubham’s body to his hometown.

DCP (East) Shrawan Kumar Singh said necessary instructions have been given to police to assist the grieving family in this difficult time. PTI COR CDN ARI