Pahalgam attack top updates: NIA takes over probe, Modi says perpetrators to get ‘harshest response’

The National Investigation Agency on Sunday took over the inquiry into the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, as per orders from the Union home ministry.

The agency said its teams, which have been camping at the site of the attack since April 23, have intensified their search for evidence.

Twenty-six persons were killed and 17 others were injured in the attack on April 22.

The attack took place in the Baisaran area of Anantnag district. Militants fired at tourists, most of whom were from outside the state. The terrorists targeted tourists after asking their names to ascertain their religion, the police said. All but three of those who died were Hindu.

Here is more on this and other top updates:

• The National Investigation Agency said that its teams, overseen by an Inspector General of Police, a Deputy Inspector General of Police and a Superintendent of Police, were examining “eyewitnesses who had seen the horrifying attack unfold before their eyes at the peaceful and picturesque Baisaran valley”. The agency added that the witnesses were being questioned to piece together the sequence of events that led to the attack. “The entry and exit points are being closely scrutinised by the investigating NIA teams for clues to the modus operandi of the terrorists,” the statement said, adding...

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