2 weeks Ago
Pune: It was a friendship that had survived most of life's twists and turns. But on their first holiday together with each other's families, to beautiful Pahalgam, both Kaustubh Gunbote (58) and Santosh Jagdale (50) would be shot by terrorists, becoming the two casualties from Pune. Both were shot in front of their families.
Gunbote leaves behind a wife, a son and daughter-in-law. Jagdale is survived by his wife and daughter. They were on the holiday with their wives, and Jagdale's daughter, Asawari.
"It was the hospital that informed us that they had succumbed to bullet injuries. We three women instantly felt alone," Asawari told TOI on Wednesday. Hours after the attack on Tuesday, she told reporters in Srinagar that the terrorists had asked her father to recite the kalma before shooting him.
Family members recalled a strong friendship. The plan to visit Kashmir was formed a month ago, when Jagdale, who worked as an interior decorator, an insurance agent and ran a business, was visiting Gunbote's snack store in Pune's Rasta Peth. "Kaustubh (Gunbote) was a busy man whose business took up most of his time.
Whenever he travelled, it was for work so this Kashmir trip was the first they took together," said Sunil More, a close friend of Gunbote. About Jagdale, Kaustubh's relatives said he was family. "Santosh was my nephew's childhood friend.
The two families shared close ties," said Jyoti Gunbote, Kaustubh's aunt. Gunbote had built his snacks business from scratch. Jagdale worked with an insurance company and had tried his hand at many things — from a construction business to the manufacturing of farsan, for which he had set up a unit a few years ago.
Both were extremely busy men, but made time for their families and each other. Ravindra Patane, a family friend of Jagdale, said: "We all grew up together so we knew Gunbote as well. Despite their hectic schedules, Kaustubh and Santosh would meet every Sunday for coffee.
Their deaths in the attack left us all shocked. We cannot believe they are not coming back." Asawari's account of the attack, one she recounted to reporters in Kashmir on Tuesday, helped piece together the friends' final moments.
"We were hiding behind a tent after the firing incident, and the terrorist came to my father, opened fire at him, and later they shot Santosh uncle, who was nearby," she said, adding that they were forced to leave the two men behind in panic..
