As NIA says Pahalgam attackers from Pak, Congress questions govt

The Indian Express on Monday reported that the arrest of two Kashmiri locals for allegedly harbouring the terrorists who carried out the Pahalgam attack has led the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to conclude that all three attackers were from Pakistan.

The breakthrough is a departure from what was previously believed about the identities of the attackers. Two days after the Pahalgam attack, the J&K Police had released three sketches — of Pakistan nationals Hashim Musa and Ali Bhai alias Talha, and Kashmir resident Adil Hussain Thoker. Sources in Central agencies now say the three men in the sketches are not the Pahalgam attackers.

“In fact, the sketches were reportedly based on a photo recovered from the phone of a terrorist named Junaid, who was killed on 4 December 2024—months before the attack even occurred,” the Congress post said.

This, the party said, “raises serious questions”, including why there was “such negligence in investigating a brutal terrorist attack”.

“Were these fake sketches part of a headline management strategy by the Modi government—more about optics than real action?” the party wrote. “How were these sketches released without proper verification? Was there external pressure on the police to act in haste?”.