The National Investigation Agency is set to file its chargesheet on Monday, 15th December, before the Special NIA Court in Jammu in the Pahalgam terror attack case. The terror attack that took place on 22nd April killed 25 tourists and a local resident. According to the agency, the killing was carried out by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists.
Following the attack, the Jammu and Kashmir Police released sketches of three suspected terrorists and announced a reward of Rs 20 lakh each for information leading to their arrest. The NIA took over the investigation and questioned more than 350 people, including pony operators, shopkeepers, photographers, and adventure sport workers from the Pahalgam area.
A breakthrough came on 22nd June when two locals, Parvaiz Ahmad Jothar from Batkote and Bashir Ahmad Jothar from Hill Park, Pahalgam, were arrested. They were accused of helping the attackers by providing them food and shelter. During questioning, both revealed that the three terrorists were Pakistani nationals belonging to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) group.
Sources at the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the attack, said that Parvaiz had admitted that on the day before the attack, around 3:30 pm, three armed men came to his house and demanded food and stayed there for almost four hours. They also asked him details about the security setup around and the Baisaran tourist destination.
During the investigation, a local witness provided important details about what happened after the attack. He told the investigators that the gunmen stopped him while leaving the scene and asked him to recite the ‘kalma’. Once they realised from his accent that he was a local Muslim, they let him go and fired several shots in the air in celebration. Based on his statement, officers recovered four used cartridges from the spot.
Terrorists killed in Joint operation
A few months later, on 22nd July, security forces killed all three terrorists in a joint operation named “Operation Mahadev” in the Dachigam forest near Srinagar. They were identified as Suleiman alias Faisal Jatt, Afghan, and Jibran, all LeT terrorists.
Confirming that the terrorists were behind the Pahalgam and Gagangeer attacks, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that agencies have strong evidence against them.