Blowing up CRPF convoy in Pulwama was not the original plan of Jaish operatives, NIA says
India

Blowing up CRPF convoy in Pulwama was not the original plan of Jaish operatives, NIA says

NIA investigation finds location of the Pulwama terror attack was ‘picked carefully’, infiltrators & RDX sneaked into India through Hiranagar-Samba sectors.

   
File image of the Pulwama terror attack | Photo: PTI

File image of the Pulwama terror attack | Photo: PTI

New Delhi: The initial plan of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) operatives who carried out the Pulwama terror attack in February 2019, killing 40 CRPF personnel, was not to attack the convoy on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, ThePrint has learnt.

Investigations have revealed that the operatives had initially planned to attack a naka (police post), but aborted the plan after the location of the naka was changed.

“Since the naka they planned to attack shifted, and since these posts keep changing locations in general, the terrorists thought there may be last-minute changes and the operation may fail. So they looked for an alternative,” a source in the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said.

One of the accused, Shakir Bashir, who runs a small shop in the vicinity of the National Highway, then spotted the movement of the convoy and started tracking it, which led to them zeroing in on it.

“The operatives observed the movement of the CRPF convoy and marked it as their target. It was then approved by handlers in Pakistan,” the source said.

The NIA is in possession of the Jaish operatives’ chats with their Pakistan handlers. 


Also read: Afghanistan training, help from 12 Kashmiris, RDX from Pakistan — how Pulwama was ‘planned’


Picked the highway location carefully

The NIA source said the location of the Pulwama attack was “picked carefully”.

“They needed a stretch which is a little elevated and has a bend, so that the car can be driven slowly. They shortlisted that stretch of the highway after a month-long reconnaissance,” the source said.

From December 2018, Shakir Bashir started doing recce of convoy movement, the deployment of security forces on the National Highway, and readied the plan of attack using a vehicle-borne IED.

“At this point, Adil Dar, the suicide bomber, agreed to be the driver of the car and give his life ‘for the cause’. He was trained for the same,” the source said.

Key accused infiltrated in April 2018

According to the charge sheet filed by the NIA, the key accused, Mohammad Umar Farooq, had infiltrated into India to form a team after being trained in Afghanistan in April 2018.

“He made a core group of over-ground workers for the operation, whose details were not known to them at that point,” the source said.

According to the source, most of these operatives from Pakistan — seven of whom have been charge-sheeted — entered India through the Hiranagar-Samba sectors in Jammu region, from where the RDX used in the attack was also sneaked in.

The NIA source said at least 45 kg RDX, as well as other explosive materials, were brought into the Kashmir Valley from Pakistan over a period of four months on new-moon nights.

Shakir Bashir collected the RDX, gelatin sticks, aluminium powder and calcium-ammonium nitrate and stocked them at his house for making the IED, the source said.


Also read: Pakistan evading responsibility on Pulwama despite India producing enough proof, says MEA


Pulwama ‘operation’ cost terrorists Rs 5.7 lakh

According to a second NIA source, the entire Pulwama operation cost the Jaish terrorists Rs 5.7 lakh, of which Rs 2.5 lakh went towards arranging the Maruti Eeco car used in the attack, and the rest towards purchasing explosives.

The second NIA source said an amount of approximately 10 lakh Pakistani rupees was deposited in Umar Farooq’s accounts in Pakistani banks to fund the attack.

“There are voice clips where Umar had asked for money from ‘A2’ and ‘A3’, following which money was deposited in his bank accounts in Pakistan,” the source said. ‘A2’ refers to Jaish chief Masood Azhar’s brother Rauf Asghar, while ‘A3’ is Ammar Alvi, a Pakistani national, both of whom have also been charge-sheeted.

“The money then reached the Kashmir Valley through illegal means, including hawala transactions, using which the raw material was procured,” the source added.

The NIA is in possession of chats and voice notes in which Rauf Asghar asked Umar about the movement of fighter jets in Kashmir after India’s Balakot air strikes that followed the Pulwama attack.

“Umar was discussing with his associates that there should be a war between India and Pakistan, so that those waiting to infiltrate across the border can be pushed into India,” the source said.


Also read: ‘How do we turn away gun-wielding men?’ Pulwama woman asks after arrest of daughter, husband