As per officials, NIA teams have recorded accounts from victims’ family members in Maharashtra, Odisha and West Bengal among other states as well. Separate teams of NIA officials have also been visiting across the country to seek details from survivors of the terrorist attack, they added.
Following the brutal terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has intensified its search for evidence and questioning eyewitnesses to unravel the terror conspiracy. The agency officially registered the case and has been investigating since the day of the attack. As part of their evidence-gathering efforts, the NIA has also questioned several eyewitnesses, leading to a shocking revelation: the terrorists had recorded the entire massacre using body cameras strapped to themselves.
NIA intensifies probe
Officials associated with the NIA revealed that the agency filed the case in Jammu and had started the investigation on the very day of the incident. A team of NIA officers rushed to the crime scene with the support of local police and has maintained a strong presence there ever since. The investigation teams are meticulously inspecting all entry and exit routes in and around Baisaran to piece together the full picture of the attack, they added.
According to NIA officials, preliminary investigations suggest that around 5-7 terrorists were involved in the massacre. They were aided by at least two local individuals who had received training in Pakistan. The security agencies have also released sketches of three terrorists identified as Pakistani nationals: Asif Fauji, Suleman Shah, and Abu Talha.
The teams, overseen by an IG, a Deputy Inspector General (DIG) and a Superintendent of Police (SP) from the anti-terror agency, are examining eyewitnesses who had seen the horrifying attack unfold before their eyes at the peaceful and picturesque Baisaran Valley in Pahalgam, according to the statement issued by NIA.
Pahalgam terror attack
As many as 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed and more than a dozen others injured in the Pahalgam terror attack which occurred on April 22. This has been one of the biggest terror attacks after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. The government, however, has yet to officially confirm the number of casualties in the terror attack in Pahalgam. Following the terror attack, security forces launched search operations to track down the terrorists responsible. Security has been heightened since the attack, with visuals from the area showing the streets deserted in the usually bustling tourist area.