NEW DELHI: A day after 26 people were shot dead in a terror attack at a meadow near Pahalgam in J&K, the preliminary probe revealed that the terrorists chose Baisaran due to the absence of security forces and no access to vehicular movement.
Sources said that the location was also chosen to make rescue operations slow and casualties high.
"The investigators have identified that two locals named Adil Guree of Anantnag and Aasif Shaikh of Sopore are suspected of having been involved in the attack," confirmed sources.
The NIA team is further verifying the leads provided by the local police.
The NIA team, led by an Inspector General (IG) level officer, has joined the probe so far and is assisting the Jammu & Kashmir Police, officials said.
They also added that in due course, the federal anti-terror investigation agency would take over the case.
Sources indicated that both Pakistani and local Kashmiri terrorists wore helmet-mounted cameras, filmed the entire assault and were involved in the attack on tourists.
They said that in total, the number of terrorists is believed to be seven -- five foreign and two local, who got adequate support from TRF overground operatives in terms of logistics and thorough reconnaissance of the area before carrying out the massacre.
The terrorists who were clad in camouflage outfits and pathani suits, came to the Baisaran meadow and opened fire with American-made M4 carbine assault rifles and AK-47s.
Over 50-70 used cartridges had been recovered from the incident site by the evening of April 22, the sources said.
Further, providing the details of weapons the terrorists were carrying, the sources said that two of them were carrying M4 carbine assault rifles while the other three were carrying AK-47s.
"After reaching the attack site, the terrorists first held the tourists hostage at gunpoint and then asked all women and children to stay away, adding that the terrorists fired from close range after inquiring about identities and subsequently indiscriminately," sources said.
However, another intelligence official claimed that the firing was entirely 'indiscriminate', except for the fact that the perpetrators segregated women and children and fired upon men only.
Talking about the route through which the terrorists infiltrated into India, the official said that the border terrain along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Jammu region is V-shaped and Pakistani troops remain deployed in the front at a few places.
“Therefore, it has always been difficult to guard against infiltration, and possibly, they entered through this area and traveled all the way to the South Kashmir region,” he noted.
