Pahalgam terror attack: How India took down the terrorists who killed 26 civilians
Pahalgam terror attack
sent shockwaves across India, Indian security forces launched 'Operation Mahadev' on May 22 to hunt down the masterminds and killers behind the Baisaran Valley massacre that claimed 26 civilian lives.
The mission was launched with the specific objective of tracking and eliminating the terrorists responsible for the April 22 attack, Union Home Minister Amit Shah told the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
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After weeks of coordinated intelligence and tactical operations, the mission culminated on July 28 with the killing of all three terrorists in a major breakthrough.
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'In a joint Operation Mahadev, the
Indian Army
, CRPF and J&K Police have neutralised three terrorists who were involved in the Pahalgam terror attack,' Shah said, confirming the success of the mission.
Shah described the Pahalgam massacre, in which 26 civilians were killed, as an act of "barbarism" and extended his condolences to the victims' families.
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'Firstly, the cold-blooded murder of innocent civilians in Pahalgam, who were killed with barbarism — I condemn that attack. To the surviving family members of the victims, I extend my heartfelt condolences,' he said.
India avenges Pahalgam horror:
Security forces kill all 3 terrorists behind attack, confirms Amit Shah
How India identified the terrorists
Shah said that security forces went to great lengths to establish that the three terrorists killed on July 28 were the same individuals who carried out the Pahalgam attack. Their identities were confirmed as Suleman, Afghan, and Jibran.
'Security forces went to great extent to establish that identity of terrorists was same as those responsible for Pahalgam attack,' Shah said.
Notably, the government possessed even more granular evidence.
'All three terrorists were Pakistani and we have their voter ID numbers as well. The chocolates recovered from them were also made in Pak,' he told the House.
Arrests and identification
Soon after the April 22 attack, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and other security agencies began making arrests of those believed to have assisted the terrorists.
Individuals who sheltered or fed the attackers were either arrested or detained. These individuals later played a key role in confirming the terrorists' identities.
'NIA had already arrested those who gave them shelter. Those who fed them were detained. When the terrorists' dead bodies reached Srinagar, they were identified as the three people who carried out the
terror attack
in Pahalgam,' Shah said.
'The people who used to supply food to them were detained earlier. Once the bodies of these terrorists were brought to Srinagar, they were identified by those who were kept detained by our agencies,' he added.
Forensic confirmation
Indian agencies also relied heavily on forensic evidence to establish the link between the dead terrorists and the Pahalgam attack.
The cartridges recovered from the April 22 attack site had already undergone analysis. On July 28, after the terrorists were killed, their rifles were recovered and sent for ballistic comparison.
'The FSL report of the cartridges from the terror attack was already ready... Yesterday, the rifles of the three terrorists were seized and matched with the FSL reports,' Shah said.
Further confirmatory tests were conducted at a lab in Chandigarh, and the ballistic match was confirmed.
'Further tests were carried out in Chandigarh yesterday, after that it was confirmed that these three were those who carried out the terror attack,' he said.
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