New Delhi, July 29: Three terrorists involved in the Pahalgam attack have been eliminated by security forces in a joint operation by the Army, CRPF and Jammu and Kashmir Police near Srinagar, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Participating in the special discussion on Operation Sindoor, Shah said the terrorists were killed under Operation Mahadev on Monday. They have been identified as Suleman alias Faizal, Afghani and Jibran.
“While Suleman was an A-category commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Afghani was also an A-category Lashkar-e-Taiba terroris, Jibran too was a notorious and wanted terrorist. All these three terrorists involved in the killing of our citizens at Baisaran valley in Pahalgam have now been eliminated,” he said.
To be sure about the identity of the terrorists, those detained by security forces for helping the terrorists were brought in and confirmed that the three were involved in the April 22 attack in Pahalgam, Shah told the House.
“People who used to supply food, provide shelter to the terrorists were detained earlier. Once the bodies of these terrorists were brought to Srinagar, they were identified by those who were detained by our agencies,” he said.
The arms — M-9 and AK-47 rifles — recovered from the terrorists were flown to Chandigarh on Monday night in a special flight for examination at the Central Forensic Science Laboratory.
The empty cartridges found at Pahalgam and those after test firing by the recovered guns were matched by the forensic lab, Shah said. The ballistic report is with him, he added.
“Six forensic experts have confirmed to me on a video call this morning that these are the same bullets used in the Pahalgam attack,” he said.
The home minister said security forces had recovered Pakistani voter IDs of two of the killed terrorists as well as chocolates made in Pakistan and the weapons.
After the Pahalgam attack, security forces were instructed not to allow terrorists responsible for the dastardly act to leave the country
Describing the Pahalgam attack as barbaric, Shah said innocent civilians were brutally killed in front of their families after being asked about their religion and were murdered with extreme cruelty.
Expressing heartfelt condolences for those who had lost their lives in Pahalgam and during Pakistani shelling on civilians, the home minister said due to Pakistani firing civilians were martyred and some gurdwaras and temples damaged. (PTI)
