SNE NETWORK.NATIONAL DESK.
Security agencies have collected evidence to find out the nationality of the terrorists involved in the Pahalgam terrorist attack. These include documents issued by the Pakistan government and other things including biometric data. These confirm that all three terrorists were citizens of Pakistan. These three terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Dachigam forest on the outskirts of Srinagar during the Mahadev operation on July 28. They were hiding in the Dachigam-Harwan forest area since the attack on April 22 in the Baisaran valley of Pahalgam. 26 people were killed in the Pahalgam attack.
The senior officer said, for the first time we have got documents issued by the Pakistani government, which leave no doubt about the nationality of the Pahalgam attackers. Forensics, documents and evidence make it clear that all three were senior members of Lashkar-e-Taiba. These three were hiding in the Dachigam-Harwan forest area since the day of the attack. The slain terrorists have been identified as Suleman Shah alias Faizal Jatt. He was an A++ category terrorist and the main mastermind and main shooter of the Pahalgam attack.
At the same time, the second attacker has been identified as Abu Hamza alias Afghan, a close associate of Jatt. He was an A category commander. The third attacker has been identified as Yasir alias Jibran. He was also an A category commander. Along with weapons, the security forces have also recovered documents issued by the Government of Pakistan from the pockets of Shah and Hamza, which include two voter slips of the Election Commission of Pakistan. The voter numbers match the voter lists of Lahore (NA-125) and Gujranwala (NA-79) respectively.
Officials said that the evidence collected showed that there was no local person among these terrorists. He said the security agencies have collected strong evidence such as biometric records of Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), voter identity slips and digital satellite phone data (call logs and GPS waypoints).
He said that besides this, mitochondrial DNA profiles taken from the blood present on a torn shirt found in Pahalgam completely matched with the DNA taken from the bodies of the three killed terrorists.
Officials said they also recovered a chip containing NADRA biometric records of the three terrorists. These records confirm the terrorists to be Pakistani citizens. They are from Changa Manga (district Kasur) and Koiyan village, near Rawalkot in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Officials said that wrappers of Candyland and Chocomax chocolates (both brands manufactured in Karachi) have also been seized. The 7.62×39 mm cartridge shells found in Baisaran were test-fired from the three AK-103 rifles recovered on July 28.