Pahalgam terror attack: Who are the 3 men in the sketches released by J&K police?

According to police records, Musa and Ali have been active in the Kashmir Valley for almost two years now. While Musa is believed to have infiltrated in September 2023, his area of operation was mainly the Budgam district, which falls in the vicinity of Srinagar city, highly placed sources told The Indian Express.

Records also suggest that Ali arrived in the Valley after Musa and was active in the Dachigam forests on the outskirts of Srinagar city. The Dachigam National Park connects to Tral and then to Pahalgam through dense mountainous forests.

Thoker, police records indicate, went to Pakistan in 2018 and returned to the Valley last year. A resident of Gurre village of Bijbehara in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, Thoker, police believe, has been acting as a local guide of the “well-trained and battle-hardened” Pakistani terrorists.

Police sources said the sketches are based on eyewitness accounts. “In some cases, they were shown pictures of active militants and asked to identify if any of the attackers resembled them,” a police officer in south Kashmir said.

Police sources said they are looking at the possibility of a fourth terrorist in the group. “We are trying to gather information about him; if he is a local or a foreign terrorist,” said a senior officer.

Another police officer said the terrorists appear to have conducted an extensive recce. “They had a clear idea about the reaction time of the forces,” he said. “Baisaran is only accessible by foot, and it would take an hour for the security agencies to react, mobilise and reach the meadow. It seems the attackers factored that in; that’s why they remained there for some time. The off-road nature of the place gave them enough time to escape into the dense forests.”

Sources in central agencies, meanwhile, said the statements of 42 locals who were present at the site have been recorded. Some of them are learnt to have told investigators that they were spared based on their accent or after the attackers ascertained their faith.

One of the witnesses, a local photographer, told investigators he climbed a tree and hid there for two hours till the attackers left.

“They are believed to have fled to the higher reaches of the Pir Panjal range, where search operations by the Army, central paramilitary forces and J&K police are underway,” said a source.

A team of senior National Investigation Agency (NIA) officers revisited the crime scene on Thursday and met the eyewitnesses. The agency is likely to take over the investigation from the local police, and the NIA Director General is likely to visit the site in the coming days.