SRINAGAR: Zipline operator Muzamil Ahmed Kumhar, who was heard chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’ as the terrorists started firing at tourists in Pahalgam’s Baisaran meadows on April 22, has been picked up for questioning by the NIA, which is probing the terror attack in which 25 tourists and a local resident were killed.
Muzamil was heard chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’ thrice in a selfie video shot by Rishi Bhatt, a tourist from Ahmedabad, while taking the zipline ride on the day of the deadly terror attack.
Muzamil’s father said his son had visited his home in Anantnag on Monday and was picked up by policemen in the evening. When told that his son had chanted ‘Allahu Akbar’ when the terrorists fired at the tourists, he said, “We are Muslims and even if the storm comes, we will say ‘Allahu Akbar’. If we do some work, we will say ‘Allahu Akbar’. What is in it?”
A sources said, “The zipline operator is being quizzed by NIA officials about his chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’ at the start of the terror attack. The NIA and J&K police are probing if he has links with terrorism.”
Muzamil’s brother Mukhtar Ahmed said his brother was picked up by police on April 23, a day after the attack, and released on Monday and then picked up again by police in the evening. He said his brother has been working in the zipline for the last three years.
Referring to the video in which Muzamil chants ‘Allahu Akbar’, Mukhtar said, “If you see the video, he himself does not know that the terror attack is taking place. He is releasing the tourist’s zipline because he himself does not know of the attack.”
He said after the terror attack, he returned home and was very scared. “He was picked up the next day by police for questioning,” Ahmed said.
Police have identified three Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists, including two Pakistanis and one local, for carrying out the attack on tourists at Baisaran. A massive search operation has been launched in Baisaran and its adjoining forest areas to track down the attackers. “The operation continued on Tuesday. We will catch them very soon,” a security official said.
TOUGH LINE
1 J&K authorities have transported 59 Pakistani nationals to Punjab for their repatriation to their country of origin, officials said. The Pakistani nationals, who were living in the Valley for decades and included the mother of Shaurya Chakra awardee Constable Mudasir Ahmad Sheikh, were collected from various districts and taken in buses to Punjab, where they will be handed over to Pakistani authorities.
2 EAM S Jaishankar on Tuesday discussed the terror attack with his counterparts from Slovenia, Panama, Algeria and Guyana during separate phone conversations.Jaishankar is understood to have stated India’s policy on “zero tolerance” towards terrorism. India would deal with perpetrators, planners and backers of the attack strongly, Jaishankar told UN Secretary António Guterre.
3 The RSS-affiliated ‘Organiser’ has found ‘intelligence gap’ coupled with infiltration from Pakistan. “The Pahalgam attack has yet again underscored the challenge of continued infiltration from Pakistan-occupied territories coupled with intelligence gaps due to the local support,” the periodical said.