Pahalgam terror attack: Local who opened shop 15 days ago but not on day of incident under NIA scanner

“Now, the officials of central agencies and NIA are questioning him and also examining his Internet Protocol Detail Record to get some clues,” a source said.

Sources in the central agencies said that an NIA team has prepared a list of all the locals who were present at the site at the time and is now questioning them. “Since the case is with the NIA, we are providing help to them and sending all the locals to them,” the source said. “They have so far questioned 100 locals, including pony operators, shopkeepers, photographers and those employed in adventure sports activities… Some of them are learnt to have told investigators that they were spared based on their accent or after the attackers ascertained their faith,” the source added.

Earlier in the week, the NIA had questioned and given a clean chit to the zipline operator seen chanting “Allahu Akbar” in one of the videos recorded by a tourist. “It was found after questioning that he got scared when he was chanting “Allahu Akbar” and immediately left the spot. He did not inform anyone, including the police, even after reaching home. He made a call to his friend later in the evening,” another source said.

Last month, the NIA registered an FIR after they were directed by the Union Home Ministry to take over the probe into the Pahalgam terror attack from the Jammu and Kashmir Police for probing a larger conspiracy theory hatched from across the border.

Investigators are also looking into whether the same group was involved in the killing of three Army personnel in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district in August 2023. The terrorists are also suspected to have been involved in an attack in Jammu’s Poonch district in May last year, wherein an Air Force personnel was killed and four others injured.

“The central agencies and the NIA are revisiting all the past cases and trying to find out any clues so that a strong case can be built up against these attackers,” the source said.

Relations between India and Pakistan have been strained since the Pahalgam terror attack, with India holding the Indus Waters Treaty “in abeyance”, cancelling all visas granted to Pakistan nationals, closing the Integrated Check Post at Attari, expelling diplomats, etc. This week, India also imposed an immediate ban on the import or transit of all goods originating in, or exported from, Pakistan.