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#PahalgamTerrorAttack : NIA Starts Meeting Eyewitnesses To Get First Hand Report ; Massive Search Operation By Army On To Hunt Perpetrators
Armed with the latest gadgets like Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and drones, the Jammu and Kashmir police, Army and paramilitary forces continued their massive operations to hunt down the terrorists in the dense jungles of the Pir Panjal range
Special teams of the National Investigation Agency have started reaching out to eyewitnesses including tourists who survived the deadly attack by terrorists of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayiba in south Kashmir’s Pahalgam, officials said.
Armed with the latest gadgets like Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and drones, the Jammu and Kashmir police, Army and paramilitary forces continued their massive operations to hunt down the terrorists in the dense jungles of the Pir Panjal range, overlooking Pahalgam and the Jammu-Srinagar national highway.
Initial investigations into the audacious terror attack, which claimed the lives of 26 people on April 22, indicate that the number of terrorists involved could range from five to seven. They were aided by at least two local militants who received training in Pakistan, the officials said.
Even though the National Investigation Agency is yet to take over the case, its teams have started speaking to the survivors in search of clues which could help in pinning down the terrorists whose attack has sparked widespread outrage and spontaneous protests in the Valley — a never-seen-before development in the over three-decade-long history of terrorism in the region.
The teams started reaching out to eyewitnesses on Tuesday, the officials said.
Intensified operations by the police, Army and CRPF have led to a few encounters in south and north Kashmir over the last couple of days and the elimination of top LeT commander Altaf Lalli in Bandipora district on Friday, they said.
A hideout was also busted in Kulgam the day before and dozens of suspected persons were detained, they added.
According to the officials, based on the piecing together of the available evidence, the roles of prime suspect Aadil Thokar alias Aadil Guree of Bijbehara and Asif Sheikh of Tral have emerged.
The officials believe that Thokar crossed over to Pakistan in 2018, where he underwent armed training with the banned LeT before returning to India to carry out attacks.
