Kashmir Militant Attack 2025
Kashmir Militant Attack 2025: The police have released the sketches of at least three terrorists and have announced a reward of Rs 20 lakh for any information on them.
At least five terrorists are accused of firing on tourists in the Baisaran valley meadow of Pahalgam on Tuesday, three of them with links to Pakistan.
Sources report that based on eyewitness testimonies and intel information, at least two attackers have local links.
Highly placed sources said one of the suspects is believed to have been involved in an IAF convoy attack in which a Corporal was killed last year. “The other two are believed to be from Bijbehara and Thokerpora, Kulgam. They went to Pakistan in 2017, and they came back to the Valley last year.
There is information that they got training in Pakistan. They were associated with Jaish-e-Mohammed, and initial investigation suggests that this attack was a collaboration between Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish,” said a source in a central agency.
According to another source, they are investigating the involvement of a top Lashkar commander, Saifullah Kasuri alias Saifullah Khalid-who has participated in various acts of terror for almost two decades-him with sources claiming he was a close confidant of the
26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed.
Must read:
Pahalgam terror attack: Indian Forces Hunt Militants After 26 Tourists Killed
Based on a belief that all attackers had fled to the higher reaches of the Pir Panjal range, the Army, along with the Central Paramilitary Force and the J&K Police, have launched search operations in the area.
The attackers are, according to police estimates, suspected to have operated on body cameras- a normal practice these days.
“All attacks in Jammu in the past three years have been shot through body or gun-mounted cameras and were used for propaganda. The LeT has come out with propaganda material using the footage,” said an officer.
Given the still-curtailed position of time regarding how the attackers entered Kashmir and how long they had been in the Valley, “Still under ascertaining.
There are indications based on existing gaps along the border, and some inputs that have been received, but nothing has been confirmed. Agencies are verifying, and on-ground assessments of the border are being conducted for possible infiltration,” the officer stated.
A team of senior officers of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) reached the crime scene on Wednesday, and the agency is likely to take over the case.
The FIR in connection with the attack states: “The police station has received information through reliable sources that unidentified terrorists, on the direction of their masters sitting across the border and by acquiring illegal weapons, opened indiscriminate fire on tourists.”
“A team of senior officers of the NIA, led by an Inspector General-rank officer, has reached Pahalgam and will visit the crime scene. They were asked to assist the local police and examine witness statements,” said a source.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited the site of the attack at Baisaran meadow and reviewed security with senior police, Intelligence Bureau, and Army officials in Srinagar, and talked to the victims of the attack.
Shot in head and chest
Calling it “cold-blooded murders,” one senior police officer investigating the attack told that a majority of the victims were shot in the head and chest. “At least 12 victims had head injuries from close range,” said another officer.
The attackers came out of the jungle and faded back in after the massacre was done. “We found a motorbike without a number plate nearby, but it is unlikely this was used to ferry the terrorists,” said the officer probing the attack.
He described how this is a meadow where tents and plastic chairs for tourists have been put up. Tourists frequent the area for some scenic viewing and local vendors sell kahwa, chips and biscuits. It is usually the tourists that take a 5-6 km walk from the Pahalgam market or ride up on horseback.
“This is a very large and dense forest connecting Hapatnar on one side to Chandanwari on the other. Depending on which route they took to escape, they could even have achieved Tral,” the officer said.
