Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Apr 25: The 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, chief of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), is learnt to be behind the Pahalgam attack also, sources said.
The Pahalgam attack was carried out by the “The Resistant Front,” (TRF), an off-shoot of the LeT, but the group is said to be directly under the control of the infamous LeT chief Hafiz Saeed. The group comprise mostly of foreign terrorists, majority Pakistanis, but several locals and over-ground workers from Kashmir are embedded within it, providing support and cover to the group in the valley.
The terrorist attack in Baisaran valley in Pahalgam which took away 26 innocent lives of tourists to Kashmir, has brought a long-active terror group operating in Jammu and Kashmir to the forefront. This terror attack, one of the deadliest since the scrapping of Article 370 in 2019, has triggered high-level diplomatic and security responses from the government against Pakistan, which has been accused of harbouring the handlers and backers of this terrorist group. And the evidences emerging so far about the dastardly attack justify the accusations against Pakistan.
According to sources, this particular module has been active in the Kashmir Valley for a long time. Security agencies believe it has been behind several high-profile attacks across the region, including in Sonamarg, Boota Pathri, and Ganderbal. In October 2024, four individuals, including two Indian Army personnel, were killed in a terror strike at Boota Pathri. That same month, Sonamarg witnessed a deadly assault on tunnel construction workers in which six labourers and a doctor were gunned down. Hashim Musa, one of the main accused in the Pahalgam massacre, is believed to be a suspect in this attack.
Following the Sonamarg massacre, a key figure in the module, Junaid Ahmed Bhatt, an A+ category Lashkar terrorist from Kulgam, was neutralised in an encounter in Dachigam in December 2024. Other members of the group, however, managed to escape, dispersing into nearby forested regions. After a major attack, these terrorists typically go underground, hiding in dense forest hideouts until receiving fresh orders from their handlers in Pakistan.
The module is reportedly controlled directly by Lashkar chief Hafiz Saeed and his deputy Saifullah, both believed to be operating from Pakistan. Indian intelligence agencies maintain that the module receives not only ideological but also logistical and tactical guidance from Pakistan’s military and its intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
In the Pahalgam attack, terrorists struck at three separate locations within the Baisaran valley. According to police sources, five people were killed together at one location, two were shot dead in an open field, and others were targeted near a fencing structure around the valley. Those who managed to jump over the fencing and flee were spared. Survivors have said that the attackers even engaged them in brief conversations before opening fire.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Thursday released sketches of three suspects linked to the Pahalgam attack. Two are Pakistani nationals: Hashim Musa alias Suleman and Ali Bhai alias Talha. The third, Abdul Hussain Thokar, is a resident of Anantnag in Kashmir. The police have announced a cash reward of Rs 20 lakh for credible information leading to their capture. Security forces also uncovered a hideout used by the module in nearby forests on Thursday.
Massive protests erupted outside the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi’s diplomatic quarter of Chanakyapuri on Thursday. Security forces were deployed in strength to control the swelling crowds. Across Jammu and Kashmir and several other Indian states, demonstrations were held condemning the attack.
