3 Pak nationals, 2 Kashmiris among 5 terrorists identified
Five terrorists, including three Pakistanis, were identified in the deadly Pahalgam attack, prompting intensified efforts to capture them.
Investigators on Wednesday identified five terrorists who carried out the deadly attack near Pahalgam town a day ago, including three Pakistani nationals and two residents of Jammu and Kashmir, as authorities stepped up efforts to nab the perpetrators of the worst terror strike to rock the region in nearly two decades.
The agencies identified named three Pakistani nationals - Asif Fauji (code name Moosa), Suleman Shah (code name Yunus) and Abu Talha (code name Asif), said people aware of developments. 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.
The Kashmiri operatives recently infiltrated into India after getting years of training in Pakistan, but Fauji and Shah were operating in J&K for some time and were involved in previous attacks as well, including in Poonch, said the investigators.
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.
Officials said the attackers spoke Urdu while interacting with the civilians, before shooting them at close range.
“Any tourist who refused to comply with their instructions related to proving their religious identity was summarily executed,” said an officer.
A second officer said, “There is a clear plan to stoke communal tensions and disrupt tourism growth in Kashmir”.
Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir have already released sketches of three suspects and announced a reward of ₹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.
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.
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.
The role of Saifullah Kasuri, one of the deputies of LeT 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”.
Sharing details of an assessment by intelligence agencies on the Pahalgam attack, a third officer said “such a sophisticated attack and use of modern weaponry is not possible without the set-up of the LeT” while adding that “we have already found some technical evidence tracing the attack’s origins to Pakistan”.
“The sophistication of the Pahalgam attack suggests the use of real-time intelligence by the terrorists of Indian security forces’ movements and advance planning, including a thorough reconnaissance of the meadow,” he said.
