New Delhi, Aug 4 (NVI) Documents and technical investigations have confirmed that two of the three slain terrorists who committed the April 22 massacre in Pahalgam were Pakistani nationals while one hailed from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).
The documents were recovered from the three terrorists killed in an encounter with security forces in Dachigam area on the outskirts of Srinagar on July 28 under ‘Operation Mahadev’ and technical investigations were carried out after that by the Indian intelligence agencies.
The slain terrorists were identified as Suleman Shah alias Faizal Jatt, Abu Hamza alias Afghan and Yasir alias Jibran, all operatives of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
In the April 22 carnage in Baisaran tourist spot in Pahalgam, Shah, a top category (A++) LeT terrorist, was the mastermind and lead shooter, according to the investigations.
Hamza and Yasir, both ‘A’ grade commanders, were the second and third gunmen, respectively. Yasir also handled rear security, the sources said.
It has been found that Suleman and Hamza were registered as voters in the Electoral List of Lahore (NA-125) and Gujranwala (NA-79), both in Punjab Province of Pakistan, intelligence sources told NVI.
According to the sources, two laminated voter slips issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan were found in the pockets of Suleman Shah and Abu Hamza.
Their Pakistani addresses were also confirmed from the biometric data in a micro CD card recovered from them, they said.
Yasir, who was known by various other names like ‘Chotu’, was a resident of Koiyan village near Rawalakot in PoJK.
Wrappers of ‘CandyLand’ and ‘ChocoMax’ chocolates were also recovered from their rucksacks, they said, while noting that both these products are produced in Karachi.
The lot numbers printed on these wrappers were traced to a May 2024 consignment shipped to Muzaffarabad, the capital of PoJK.
According to the investigations conducted, the three terrorists crossed over to Kashmir from PoJK through the Gurez sector of Line of Control (LoC) in May 2022.
Evidence in this respect is the Intelligence Bureau intercepts of the first radio check-in from the Pakistani side, they said.
Lying low for almost three years, they surfaced at a seasonal hut (dhok) at Hill Park, about 2 kms from Baisaran on April 21, 2025, a day before the attack.
This has been corroborated by the testimonies by two detained local Kashmiris — Parvaiz & Bashir Ahmad Jothar — who confessed to sheltering the three terrorists overnight and providing them with cooked food.
The next morning, April 22, the terrorists trekked to Baisaran meadow, which is a walk of about 30 minutes upwards in the mountains from the main town of Pahalgam.
This has been established from the GPS waypoints recovered from Suleman’s Garmin device, which also matches the exact firing positions reported by eyewitnesses, the sources said.
At around 2.30 PM on April 22, the terrorists carried out shootings and then escaped North-East towards Dachigam, they said.
The shell casings of the bullets recovered from the Dachigam encounter along with 2 AK-47 rifles and M9 carbine matched 100% with those found in Baisaran, the sources said.
DNA matching was also done and the Mitochondrial profiles extracted from blood on a torn shirt found at Pahalgam were found to be identical to that of the bodies recovered from Dachigam encounter site, they said.
Digital Footprint: A Huawei satellite phone (IMEI 86761204-xxxxxx) used by the trio had been pinging Inmarsat-4 F1 every night between April 22 and July 25. Triangulation narrowed the search grid to 4 sq kms inside Harwan forest, they said.
Command and Control inside Pakistan:
The operation was coordinated and controlled from Pakistan by Sajid Saifullah Jatt, LeT commander and resident of Changa Manga in Lahore.
This has been established by the voice samples found on the Satellite Phone recovered from the slain terrorists and matched with his earlier intercepts, the sources said.
Further establishing Pakistani connection was the visit paid by Rizwan Anees, LeT’s Rawalakot chief, to the families of the slain terrorists on April 29 to attend ‘Ghibana Namaz’ (funeral prayers without bodies) and was filmed by some locals, the sources said, adding that footage is now a part of the Indian dossier. (NVI)
