Sources say the prime conspirator of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack was among three Pakistani terrorists gunned down in an encounter in Srinagar, launched under Operation Mahadev.
The mastermind, leading Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Suleiman Shah, alias Musa Fauji, was directly involved in the planning and execution of the attack that claimed the lives of 26 civilians. Security forces allegedly caught the terrorists unawares before eliminating them.
Musa Fauji was known to orchestrate violent attacks, such as the murder of seven workers working on the Z-Morh tunnel construction project on the Srinagar-Sonmarg road a year ago.
The encounter, a joint operation between the Indian Army and the Jammu and Kashmir Police, was carried out in the Dachigam area close to Mount Mahadev. The operation—Operation Mahadev—was probably so named as it took place between the Zabarwan and the Mahadev ridges. Security forces during the raid recovered considerable arms and ammunition, such as 17 grenades, an M4 carbine, and two AK-47 rifles from the terror hideout.
The gunbattle commenced after security personnel got information regarding the location of foreign terrorists in the forested region of Dachigam. Previously, in July, the Army had picked up a suspicious call from the same area, following which a joint team of Lashkar and Jaish terrorists had been tracked for 14 days. Local nomadic groups had assisted the surveillance process with inputs. The terror group's satellite communication signals reappeared two days back, allowing security personnel to target them.
On the basis of this success, several Army teams were deployed. On Monday at about 11:30 a.m., troops of 24 Rashtriya Rifles and 4 PARA located and neutralized the three terrorists with great tactical precision, surprising them while they were resting—a routine habit followed by such operatives to evade detection.
Sources informed India Today that the terrorists were resting during the encounter. Their common tactic is to keep changing places and resting at intervals, which has helped them in the past to stay ahead of the police.
The identification of the bodies is in progress, which will establish or rule out the involvement of the terrorists in the Pahalgam attack.
Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducting the investigation had arrested two locals—Parvaiz Ahmad Jothar and Bashir Ahmad—last month on the charge of harboring the attackers.
All this comes in the wake of Parliament's debate on the Pahalgam terror attack and India's retaliatory Operation Sindoor. The opposition has been aggressively critical of the government for the initial inability to arrest the culprits behind the massacre.
The attack, which was staged in Baisaran Valley—a picturesque area commonly known as "mini Switzerland"—was one of the most lethal terror attacks in Kashmir in recent years. It was attributed by The Resistance Front (TRF), a subsidiary of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Witnesses and investigators confirmed that the terrorists specifically targeted male victims, singling out and killing those labeled as non-Muslims while on a picnic at the popular destination.
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