The house of local terrorist Adil Hussain Thokar, involved in the Pahalgam attack, located in the Gouri area of Bijbehara in Anantnag district, was bombed by security forces. Adil Thokar, alias Adil Gouri, is accused of aiding Pakistani terrorists in planning and executing the attack in the beautiful Baisaran Valley of Pahalgam on April 22. Meanwhile, the house of another involved local terrorist, Asif Sheikh, located in Tral, was demolished by the Jammu and Kashmir administration using a bulldozer.
Military sources revealed that a group of four Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists, armed with steel-tipped bullets, AK-47 rifles, and equipped with body cameras, targeted the Pahalgam locality on April 22, showering bullets at Hindus among tourists. This terrorist attack claimed 26 lives, most of whom were tourists from various Indian states exploring Jammu and Kashmir. Among the terrorists, two locals were identified – Adil Hussain Thokar from Bijbehara and Asif Sheikh from Tral.
According to military sources, Adil legally visited Pakistan in 2018 via the Attari-Wagah border, where he underwent training in a terror camp before returning to Jammu and Kashmir last year. Eyewitnesses reported that some terrorists conversed in Pashtun during the attack. Sources emphasized that the terrorists involved were members of the Pakistan-based terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba. However, the attack was also claimed by The Resistance Front (TRF), which is said to be a front group of Lashkar-e-Taiba to project attacks as local acts.
It is believed that terrorists infiltrated Jammu and Kashmir much earlier and planned an attack during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Katra on April 19, which was canceled for unknown reasons. Denying any targeted attack on intelligence agency personnel, sources stated that an Intelligence Bureau employee (Manish Ranjan from Bihar, stationed in Hyderabad) was vacationing with his family and was among those killed.
The terrorists reportedly entered the Baisaran Valley, a lush meadow known as Maggi Point or Mini Switzerland, equipped with AK-47s and body cameras. They asked tourists their names to specifically target Hindus. Armor-piercing bullets, known as steel bullets, were among the ammunition recovered from the attack site. Sources revealed that the terrorists fired for approximately 15 minutes, resulting in the massacre of innocent people. Military sources suggest that terrorist groups typically conduct such attacks with six members, implying that additional attackers may have been involved for surveillance. A large-scale operation has been launched by security forces to track down the terrorists, with special forces deployed as well.
