NIA chief reaches Pahalgam as probe intensifies into Pahalgam terror attack

NIA chief Sadanand Date visited Pahalgam after the agency took over the investigation into the recent terror attack that killed 26 people. The team is gathering evidence and tracking those helping the terrorists. Security has been tightened in key areas as the probe intensifies

Srinagar: The Director General (DG) of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Sadanand Date, reached Pahalgam on Thursday after the agency took over the probe into the terror attack in which 26 civilians, including 25 tourists and a local, were killed on April 22.

The NIA took over the Pahalgam terror attack investigation on Sunday following an order issued by the Counter Terrorism and Counter Radicalisation (CTCR) division of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) considering the gravity of the case.

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A formal FIR has been registered by the agency. Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba’s proxy, the Resistance Front (TRF), has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The NIA took over the case five days after the incident, but its team had visited the attack site a day after April 22 and started supporting the Jammu and Kashmir Police in probing the case.

An official had said, “Now NIA has formally taken over the case from the J&K Police and started investigation on its own.”

The NIA team is conducting a thorough assessment of the attack site, collecting forensic evidence to identify those responsible for the carnage.

The NIA’s move comes amid intelligence agencies compiling a list of 14 local terrorists actively operating in the UT.

According to sources, these individuals, aged between 20 and 40 years, are actively aiding foreign terrorists from Pakistan by providing logistical and ground-level support.

The identified operatives are reportedly affiliated with three major Pakistan-backed terror outfits: Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

Among them, three are associated with Hizbul Mujahideen, eight with LeT, and three with JeM.

Sources revealed the names of these individuals as Adil Rehman Dentoo (21), Asif Ahmed Sheikh (28), Ahsan Ahmed Sheikh (23), Haris Nazir (20), Aamir Nazir Wani (20), Yawar Ahmed Bhat, Asif Ahmed Khanday (24), Naseer Ahmed Wani (21), Shahid Ahmed Kutay (27), Aamir Ahmed Dar, Adnan Safi Dar, Zubair Ahmed Wani (39), Haroon Rashid Ganai (32), and Zakir Ahmed Ganie (29).

“The identification of these local terror aides comes as agencies intensify efforts to dismantle the support networks facilitating cross-border terrorism,” sources said.

Security forces have launched coordinated operations, particularly in Anantnag and Pulwama districts, where many of the listed individuals are believed to be operating.

Senior officials said that these names are part of a larger intelligence dossier being used to preempt further attacks and disrupt terror logistics in the Valley.

Earlier, the NIA said in its press release that the teams, overseen by an IG, a DIG and an SP from the anti-terror agency, are examining the eyewitnesses who had seen the horrifying attack unfold before their eyes at the peaceful and picturesque Baisaran valley.

“The eyewitnesses are being questioned in minute detail to piece together the sequence of events that led to one of the worst terror attacks in Kashmir. The entry and exit points are being closely scrutinised by the investigating NIA teams for clues to the modus operandi of the terrorists,” the release mentioned.

The NIA teams, aided by forensic and other experts, have checked the entire area thoroughly for evidence to expose the terror conspiracy that led to the horrendous attack.