Pahalgam Terror Attack: As authorities stepped up efforts to capture perpetrators of the Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed the lives of at least 26 people and left several others injured, at least five terrorists, including three Pakistani nationals and two residents of Jammu and Kashmir, have been identified. The horrific attack near Pahalgam town was the worst terror strike to rock the region in nearly two decades.
According to news agency IANS, the investigation agencies identified three Pakistani nationals – Asif Fauji (code name Moosa), Suleman Shah (code name Yunus) and Abu Talha (code name Asif) – said people aware of developments.
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1. Two other Valley-based operatives—Adil Guri, a local from Bijbehara in Anantnag who went to Pakistan in 2018, and Ahsan, a resident of Pulwama who also went to Pakistan in 2018—were also identified, said the people cited above.
2. The Kashmiri operatives recently infiltrated into India after getting years of training in Pakistan, but Fauji and Shah were operating in Jammu and Kashmir for some time and were involved in previous attacks as well, including in Poonch, said the investigators.
3. The terrorists involved in Tuesday’s attack in Pahalgam’s Baisaran meadow asked civilians, particularly men, to prove their religion by reciting Islamic prayers or showing physical markers such as circumcision, according to a preliminary investigation by central agencies based on survivors’ testimonies.
4. Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir have already released sketches of three suspects and announced a reward of Rs 20 lakh each for information on them. One of the attackers has been identified by central intelligence agencies as Moosa – a code name – who, the officer cited above said, was also most likely involved in the May 2024 attack on an Indian Air Force (IAF) convoy in Poonch.
5. There is no CCTV camera at any establishment in the close vicinity of the Baisaran meadow, which means investigators are largely relying on information shared by the survivors. It is suspected that the attackers fled to higher ranges of the Pir Panjal after the attack.
6. A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team led by Inspector General Vijay Sakhare is stationed in Srinagar to conduct a thorough investigation. Officials said the federal anti-terror agency has already taken over the probe, with the J&K Police lending assistance.
7. The role of Saifullah Kasuri, one of the deputies of Lashkar-e-Toiba Chief Hafiz Saeed, is being investigated, officials added. In a video shared on social media, Kasuri can be seen saying on February 2 this year that “Kashmir will become ‘land of the pure’ by February 2, 2026” and that “in the coming days, Mujahideen will intensify their attacks and Kashmir will be freed.”
8. Meanwhile, in response to the terror attack, India came down heavily on Pakistan and downgraded diplomatic ties with Pakistan, announcing a raft of measures. The strict measures against the neighbouring country include expulsion of Pakistani military attaches, suspension of the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 and immediate shutting down of the Attari land-transit post in view of the cross-border links to the horrific Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians.
9. A day after the brazen attack, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, firmed up five specific retaliatory measures against Pakistan, directed the security forces to maintain “high vigil” and vowed to bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice. At a late evening media briefing, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, announcing the decisions, said the overall strength of the Pakistani and Indian high commissions will be brought down to 30 from the present 55 through further reductions, to be effected by May 1.
10. The foreign secretary said Pakistani nationals will not be permitted to travel to India under the SAARC visa exemption scheme (SVES), and any Pakistani national currently in India under the SVES visa has 48 hours to leave India. Misri said the cross-border linkages to the Pahalgam attack were “brought out” in a briefing to the CCS, following which it decided to take the measures against Pakistan. The new retaliatory actions shut down the few existing diplomatic mechanisms between the two sides, taking bilateral relations to yet another new low.
(With agencies Inputs)
