Sheikh Sajjad Gul, the head of Lashkar-e-Taiba proxy The Resistance Front (TRF), has been identified as the mastermind behind the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people in April. Gul, who is based in Pakistan, has a history of planning terror attacks in Kashmir, including targeted killings, grenade attacks, and ambushes of police personnel. He was designated a terrorist by the NIA in 2022 and a reward of Rs 10 lakh was placed on his head. The TRF claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack, where tourists were shot at point-blank range after being asked their religion. Gul's history includes a 2002 arrest in Delhi for planning serial blasts and a subsequent 10-year prison sentence. After his release, he moved to Pakistan and became the leader of the TRF in 2019, a move orchestrated by the ISI to present a facade of an indigenous terror movement in Jammu and Kashmir.
The entry and exit points are being closely scrutinised by the investigating NIA teams for clues to the modus operandi of the terrorists, the officials said.
Shubham Dwivedi, a 31-year-old businessman from Kanpur, was shot dead by terrorists in Kashmir's Pahalgam on Tuesday, just two months after his wedding. Dwivedi was on a vacation with his wife and family when the incident occurred. The terrorists reportedly asked Dwivedi to recite an Islamic declaration of faith and shot him in the head when he failed to do so. The attack has sparked outrage and condemnation across India.
The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to examine a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a judicial probe into the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed.
The body of Territorial Army jawan Hilal Ahmad Bhat, who was reported missing on Tuesday from Shah, was recovered from Sanglan forest area in Utrasoo area of Anantnag, the officials said.
Defying apprehensions of the horrific April 22 terror Pahalgam attack casting a shadow on the Amarnath Yatra this year, hundreds of pilgrims from various parts of the country lined up at the registration centre in Jammu on the first day.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has started interviewing eyewitnesses, including tourists, in connection with the deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, south Kashmir. The attack, carried out by terrorists from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed the lives of 26 people on April 22. Initial investigations suggest that five to seven terrorists were involved, aided by local militants trained in Pakistan. Security forces are conducting massive operations to hunt down the terrorists in the dense jungles of the Pir Panjal range.
Terrorists on Saturday shot dead a policeman in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said, evoking condemnations from mainstream political parties in the Valley.
Late Jammu and Kashmir Police deputy superintendent Humayun Bhat, who died in a 2023 encounter with terrorists, was posthumously awarded the President's Police Medal for Gallantry for his courageous actions during a 2021 gunfight. Bhat was earlier honored with the Kirti Chakra, the nation's second-highest peacetime gallantry award, for his role in neutralizing a top local commander of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and a Pakistani terrorist.
In a video circulated on social media, Doval can be heard enquiring about the price, weight and diet of the cattle -- mostly sheep on sale at the market.
One of the slain terrorists was pursuing Bachelor of Physiotherapy.
Thousands of tourists have begun leaving Kashmir after a terror attack in Pahalgam killed 26 people, prompting authorities to arrange for their safe return. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah expressed concern over the exodus, while the Civil Aviation Ministry has ordered airlines to ensure there are no fare hikes and to offer extra flights from Srinagar. While many tourists are leaving, some are choosing to stay, citing the presence of security forces and their feeling of safety.
The bypoll, earlier slated to be held on April 12, was postponed for May 25 due to poor law and order situation.
The Congress on Monday distanced itself from the controversial comments of some of its leaders on the Pahalgam terror attack, saying that only the recent CWC resolution and the views expressed by AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and authorised AICC office-bearers represent its position. The opposition party's assertion comes in the wake of remarks by leaders like Vijay Wadettiwar, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Shashi Tharoor, Tariq Hameed Karra and Saifuddin Soz that have triggered a row, with the BJP alleging that some from the opposition party were speaking "Pakistan's language".
Terrorists opened fire at a popular tourist spot near Kashmir's Pahalgam town on Tuesday afternoon, killing 26 people, mostly holidayers from other states, in what is the deadliest attack in the Valley since the Pulwama strike in 2019.
Kashmir police chief Vijay Kumar has directed personnel to apprehend those responsible for the attack as soon as possible.
The first batch of pilgrims reached Kashmir on Friday for the annual Amarnath Yatra, beginning Saturday, with J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha flagging off 4,603 yatris in the morning from the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas base camp in Jammu under a tight security cover.
Survivors of a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Baisaran recount a horrific massacre in which 26 tourists were killed. The attackers, clad in brown clothes and wearing GoPro cameras, demanded to know who was Hindu or Muslim before firing indiscriminately. Families of the victims demand accountability and justice, calling for increased security at tourist spots.
'Right now, we have no relationship with Pakistan. And the relationship with China is not great.'
A top Pakistani commander of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) who was active in the Valley for several years was killed and four security personnel were injured in an encounter in the Khanyar area of Srinagar on Saturday, officials said.
The incoming facility on prepaid connections has also been restored, but the outgoing calls are barred.
The boy, identified as Nihan Yawar, a resident of neighbouring Kulgam district, was travelling with his father for some personal work when he was hit by bullets fired by the terrorist at Padshahi Bagh bridge in Anantnag's Bijbehara area.
Militants shot at and critically injured a policeman in south Kashmir's Anantnag town on Friday evening.
"Militants in combat uniform barged into the guard room of TV tower at Dalvash in Dooru area of Anantnag district around 12.30 am and overpowered the cops guarding the installation," the police official said.
A civilian was also injured when terrorists opened fire on a CRPF team deployed on law and order duty at Achabal Chowk in Anantnag and escaped, the sources said.
Terrorists struck at two places in Kashmir on Saturday night, killing a former sarpanch in Shopian and injuring a tourist couple from Rajasthan in Anantnag, two days ahead of Lok Sabha elections in Baramulla.
The killing of the two terrorists is a huge success for the forces, he said. Kumar said LeT terrorists were also behind the killing of Bhupinder Singh, Block Development Council chairman, Khag, in central Kashmir's Budgam district.
A Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist returned to India via Nepal and surrendered before police in Anantnag district of south Kashmir on Wednesday after spending two decades in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, police said.
He was arrested and during questioning, he confessed to his involvement in the labourer's killing.
'Whether she is in power or not, she always makes it a point to visit us. This is her best quality as a leader.'
'Pakistan's only concern has been while they were on the FATF watch list was to distance their State institutions and organs from any direct connection with the actual execution of militancy inside Kashmir.'
The encounter broke out on Thursday night at Kanibal in Bijbehara of Anantnag district, when the police along with the army and Central Reserve Police Force cordoned off a village following an intelligence input about the presence of terrorists, they said.
Militants shot dead a former militant in south Kashmir's Anantnag district. They also carried out a grenade explosion in north Kashmir's Sopore town on Tuesday evening injuring two persons.
More than 4.5 lakh pilgrims paid their obeisance at the natural ice Shiva Lingam formation inside the cave shrine last year.
Col Singh was a combat veteran and was awarded Sena Medal during his tenure as second-in-command of the 19 Rashtriya Rifles.
An encounter took place between security forces and terrorists in a remote forest in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar early on Sunday, officials said.
Terrorists blew up a portion of the Anantnag-Baramulla rail track near Galbugh in the south Kashmir Pulwama district late on Thursday night.
The bodies of the three militants were recovered from the debris of the house at Arwani in Bijbehara area on Friday morning after security forces blew up the building using explosives, a police official said.
