NIA quizzes Valley tour operators, tour guides

Among those interrogated was the zipline operator at Baisaran meadow, who was heard chanting “Allahu Akbar” in a video shot by a tourist that surfaced on Monday

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is interrogating several individuals including pony operators, vendors, photographers and those employed in adventure sports activities to recreate the sequence of events as well as establish if they were involved in any way in the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, people familiar with the development said on Tuesday.

Security personnel conduct a cordon and search operation in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday. (PTI)

Among those interrogated was the zipline operator at Baisaran meadow, who was heard chanting “Allahu Akbar” even as the attack began in a video shot by a tourist that surfaced on Monday. Several so-called overground workers (OGWs), those offering logistical support to terrorists, are also being questioned to find out their possible role in reconnaissance, sheltering the terrorists before and after the attacks, or providing them with weapons, said an officer, who asked not to be named.

Intelligence agencies have information that some of the attackers – including two Pakistanis — Ali Bhai alias Talha Bhai and Hashim Musa alias Suleiman — and local operative Adil Hussain Thoker, are still hiding somewhere in the mountains of the Pir Panjal range and have not crossed over to Pakistan yet.

“All technical and human intelligence is being used to locate them,” the officer cited above said.

As first reported by HT last week, Musa was involved in at least three previous attacks in J&K, including the May 2024 ambush on an Indian Air Force (IAF) convoy in Poonch.

The federal anti-terror agency on Sunday morning formally took over the probe into the attack, carried out by the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) through its proxy The Resistance Front (TRF).

An official familiar with the development said NIA took over all case files from the Jammu and Kashmir police, including details of all OGWs active in the Valley who are either out on bail or lodged in prisons.

Meanwhile, a high-level meeting also took place in Delhi between senior officials of the Union home ministry and paramilitary forces, according to a second officer.

The NIA’s lead team investigating the case is currently camped in Pahalgam police station while several other teams are gathering evidence and testimonies in other cities.

“The entry and exit points are being closely scrutinised by the investigating teams for clues. The teams, aided by forensic and other experts, are checking the entire area thoroughly for evidence to expose the terror conspiracy that led to the horrendous attack that has shocked the nation,” the agency said in a statement on Sunday.

It suspects that terrorists carried out a reconnaissance of the Baisaran meadow and security arrangements around it before April 20.

As first reported by HT on April 24, Indian intelligence agencies have already traced the Pahalgam attack’s digital footprints to some safe houses in Muzaffarabad and Karachi, establishing a clear involvement of Pakistan and suggesting that a 26/11 Mumbai attacks type control room-run operation may have been replicated.

Forensic analysis and statements by survivors have revealed that four to five terrorists were involved in the killings. They were well-equipped with automatic weapons, including AK rifles, sophisticated communication devices, and some were even dressed in military-style fatigues.

There have been inputs that the Pakistan army and the ISI were actively facilitating infiltration of highly skilled terrorists of the LeT and JeM from the Line of Control (LoC) into India since December last year.