Two local terrorists 'herded' tourists to Pahalgam attack site, govt had intelligence inputs in advance: Report

A recent development in the horrifying Pahalgam attack that killed 26 tourists, shows that out of four terrorists, two were from South Kashmir and they may have "herded" the tourists at the site where the incident took place.

As per a report by The Indian Express, advance intelligence inputs suggest that days before the attack was carried by the terrorists, the security establishments and the government knew about a possible attack.

It is said that the inputs were about attacking tourists staying in hotels in and nearby Srinagar.

After receiving information about an attack, the security in the area was heightened near Zabarwan range, and that police has "camped in the valley few days before the attack".

An official told the publication that the agencies had intelligence, and were predicting an attack.

However, as per the information provided by the official, they were anticipating attack on a hotel or outskirts of Srinagar.

"Because civilian killings have happened mostly in south Kashmir," the official told TIE. Operations were then undertaken to monitor areas like Dachigam, Nishant for about 15 days before the Pahalgam attack.

An official however noted "intelligence inputs being unspecific" and were known only after the attack.

Mentioning details about the terrorists, the officials noted there were four terrorists, and two of them were from the Valley.

The verification of the terrorists is under way however the officials said that the two among the four had crossed over to Pakistan but there are no details about them coming back to India.

"It is likely they returned to India from the Kathua side in Jammu," the officials told the publication.

The report also mentioned that the two terrorists "mingled" with the tourists and "herded" them over to the food court area, where the attack took place.

The officials suspect local support from people of that area and noted that there were "signals of wireless chatter".

Security forces unearthed a terrorist hideout in a forest area in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, leading to the recovery of five improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and two wireless sets, officials said on Monday.

All the ready-to-use IEDs, weighing between half-a-kg and five kg, were destroyed in a controlled explosion on-the-spot, thwarting terrorist plans to set off explosions in the border district, the officials said.

(With PTI inputs)