Pulwama Attack: 5 years of Terrorist Attack

Five years ago, a terrorist from Jaish-e-Muhammad crashed an explosives-laden car into a CRPF convoy. The incident prompted the Indian Air Force to launch a surgical strike in Pakistan. This is what took place.

This day five years ago saw the deaths of forty paramilitary personnel in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, as a result of a terror attack. Tensions between India and Pakistan increased a few days after the attack when the Indian Air Force launched a surgical strike in Balakot, Pakistan.

This is a recap of the incident and what happened after.

What took place in Pulwama?

On February 14, 2019, in the afternoon, a Jaish-e-Muhammad terrorist crashed an explosives-laden vehicle into a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy near Lethpora, a Pulwama village on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.

The assault claimed the lives of forty people and targeted two of the convoy’s buses.

Who launched the attack?

Adil Ahmad Dar, a 21-year-old Pulwama native and Class 12 dropout from Gundibagh village, carried out the attack. Dar stated in a pre-recorded video statement posted on social media by the Jaish shortly after the attack: “By the time this video reaches you, I will be enjoying heaven. This is my final letter to the Kashmiri people.

Dar worked at a sawmill and was immediately enlisted in the Jaish’s suicide squad, or “fidayeen.” Dar departed his home for work on March 19, 2018, but he never came back. At the time, Sameer Ahmad Dar, a friend of his who was a postgraduate geology student at Kashmir University, vanished also.

A couple of days afterward, Dar shared a photo of himself on Facebook. With an AK-47 in his hand, he introduced himself as “Waqas Commando.”

What took place following the attack?

Relations between India and Pakistan reached a new low as a result of the attack and Jaish’s admission of guilt. The Indian Air Force entered Pakistani airspace on February 28, 2019, and targeted a suspected Jaish-e-Muhammad training facility near Balakot.

The Pakistan Air Force crossed the Line of Control (LoC) to the Indian side the next day in order to attack military sites in the Rajouri-Naushera area. Pakistan shot down one of the Indian Air Force’s MiG-21 Bison aircraft when the IAF retaliated to the breach of Indian airspace. The Pakistan Army took Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman prisoner, but he was freed two days later.

What happened during the course of the investigation?

The following day, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrived in Srinagar with the intention of gathering forensic evidence and samples. In August 2020, a special court in Jammu received a lengthy 13,800-page chargesheet after multiple individuals were taken into custody.

The Jaish leadership in Pakistan, including Masood Azhar, Rouf Asgar, and Ammar Alvi, was charged, along with nine local defendants, seven of whom were from Pulwama.F

ollowing this, four Pakistani terrorists were eliminated, among them the supposed mastermind Umar Farooq. Six local suspects were taken into custody, one of them being Insha Jan.

How was the case solved by the NIA?

Following a gunfight on March 29, 2019, in the outskirts of Srinagar, the investigation made significant progress. In response to a technological suggestion, the J&K Police raided a suburban home in Nowgam. In the subsequent gunfight, two terrorists from Pakistan, Kamran and Umar Farooq, were slain.

Umar was Masood Azhar, the chief of Jaish,’s nephew. Kamran was an expert on IEDs. From Umar, the cops took a partially damaged Samsung S-9 Galaxy phone. The phone was initially housed at the Nowgam police station and didn’t seem to contain anything.

Afterwards, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) received the phone from the police for a technical examination. Numerous images and videos that Umar had taken and later erased were found by CERT-In. The first hint was this.

The team also retrieved correspondence between Umar and his top Jaish commander in Pakistan, Ammar Alvi, who was subsequently labelled as a terrorist by the Central Intelligence Agency. The NIA investigators found additional accused, such as Shakir Bashir and Peer Tariq Ahmad Shah, thanks to the photos, which included one of Umar and Insha Jan.

The NIA came to pick up Shakir, Insha, and Shah, her father. A few more identities surfaced during the investigations, including Mudasir Ahmad Khan, Sameer Dar, Abbas Rather, and Sajad Ahmad Bhat.

Investigations showed that Sajad Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Bijbehara, Anantnag, had bought the Maruti Eeco vehicle used by Adil Ahmad Dar. Following the attack, Bhat immediately ran into hiding before being shot and murdered.

In south Kashmir, Mudasir was also slain, and authorities asserted that Sameer Dar was also killed.

Also Read- Farmers Protest: Delhi Chalo 2.0