NEW DELHI: In a major breakthrough, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has uncovered irrefutable evidence to connect the Pahalgam terror attack of unimaginable carnage to an elaborate cross-border conspiracy hatched by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) with active encouragement by Pakistan’s intelligence agencies and army leadership.
The probe into the April 22 attack, which left 26 dead, including civilians and security forces, has established that the assailants had direct instructions from handlers on the other side of the border. Inputs from intelligence indicate a carefully crafted operation with logistical support offered by a large network of local handlers in Kashmir, several of whom have been picked up for interrogation.
Two external handlers, thought to be Pakistani nationals using the aliases Suleman and Talha Bhai, were in constant communication with the ground-level foot soldiers using encrypted means. Their orders allegedly included everything from entry points to exact locations and times of attack. The attackers are thought to have entered Indian territory weeks prior to the attack and were assisted by sympathisers who provided shelter, arms, and transportation.
Security forces have also identified about 20 local operatives, or overground workers (OGWs), some of whom have connections with previously proscribed groups. Two imprisoned men known to have LeT connections—Nisar Ahmad and Mushtaq Hussain—are being brought back into the spotlight for their suspected involvement in planning the groundwork for the attack.
The terrorists, as evidenced by forensic details and mapping in cyberspace, scouted several locations within Pahalgam before identifying Baisaran Valley, where security deployment was weak. Satellite communication traffic at the location picked up sharply a few days prior to the attack—a deviation that led investigators to identify the use of at least three foreign-based devices in action close to the location.
Search operations are ongoing in forested areas across Baisaran and surrounding areas like Taranau and Dawroo, where security forces suspect the surviving assailants could be seeking shelter in natural caves or dense woods, according to a report. More than 40 empty shells have been recovered by investigators and taken for ballistic testing, while cell tower dumps in the vicinity are being sifted for clues.
With more than 2,800 people interrogated and 150 in custody till now, the administration is investigating potential links between the Pahalgam attack and previous ambushes of Army convoys in Rajouri and Poonch. Officials claim that the fingerprints of LeT’s new-gen terror cells, operated under civilian cover and supported by Pakistan’s deep state, are all over the attack.