Probe finds LeT commander Farooq Ahmed’s network played crucial role in Pahalgam attack, his house recently demolished in Kupwara
According to National Investigation Agency (NIA) sources, the terrorists based in Pakistan were able to carry out the attack in Pahalgam with the assistance of the network of Farooq Ahmad alias Farooq Teedwa, a leading Lashkar-e-Taiba commander. His residence in Kalaroos of Kupwara, was one of ten structures demolished by security authorities last week as part of a broader campaign against the terror ecosystem in the valley. It is suspected that he has been in Pakistan since 1996.
Over the past two years, Ahmad, who is presently believed to be in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), has been instrumental in planning several terror acts in the region using his web of sleeper cells. The Pahalgam attack, which claimed the lives of 26 Hindu tourists, has been deemed the most deadly of these operations. He has also been supporting infiltration into Kashmir from three sectors of Pakistan, according to sources. The mountainous routes of the valley are well known to him.
Ahmed connected the Pakistani group with his network of overground workers in Jammu and Kashmir, according to intelligence details. Authorities are attempting to identify the people who assisted the attackers from Pakistan. According to intelligence, he has maintained communication with overground workers in Kashmir and has also used the network to support Pakistani terrorists in past operations. According to sources, more than 2,000 overground workers have been questioned following extensive interrogation, and 15 of them are currently being investigated.
Intelligence reports indicated that Ahmad travelled back and forth between India and Pakistan between 1990 and 2016. Several of his aides were arrested following the Pahalgam incident. Additionally, he has been working from Pakistan for the past two years and contacting his network in Kashmir via secure communication applications, based on sources. According to authorities, three terrorists carried out the horrifying assault in the Baisaran valley. The forests around the tourist destination might have also harboured a fourth Pakistani terrorist.
The three terrorists responsible for the attack have had their sketches made public by the police, who have also offered a reward of Rs 20 lakh for any information that leads to their capture. Hashim Musa, also known as Suleiman, and Ali Bhai, alias Talha, are the two Pakistani terrorists. Adil Hussain Thoker, the local Lashkar-e-Taiba recruit who is suspected to be the third attacker in has been identified. He returned to Jammu and Kashmir sometime last year after visiting Pakistan in 2018 and receiving training in terror camps.
The terrorists spent the first week of April scouting hotels in Pahalgam. After two days of unfavourable weather, they struck on 22nd April, the day when many tourists went to the attractive Baisaran Valley. They shot dead Hindu men at the spot after waiting for tourists at the location, asking them to recite the Kalima and forcing them to take off their pants to confirm their religion. Officials are speaking with eyewitnesses, analysing the horrifying videos that have surfaced from the location and assembling evidence. Furthermore, there has been a large search and crackdown on the properties of terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.
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