MHA hands over Pahalgam terror attack probe to NIA

The ministry of home affairs (MHA) has handed over the probe into the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, sponsored by Pakistan and carried out by the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) through its proxy, The Resistance Front (TRF), to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) following which the agency is "checking the entire area to expose the terror conspiracy", it said on Sunday.

- Neeraj Chauhan

NEW DELHI:

The federal anti-terror probe agency said in a statement that "it has begun the process of formally taking over the Pahalgam terror attack case, in which 26 innocent tourists were mercilessly shot dead on Tuesday, following orders from the Ministry of Home Affairs."

The agency teams have been camping at the terror attack site in the Baisaran meadow, located 5 km from Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam town, since Wednesday and have intensified the search for evidence, it said.

Sharing the specifics of investigation being carried out till now, the agency said, "The teams, overseen by an IG (inspector general), a DIG (deputy inspector general of police) and an SP (superintendent of police) from the anti-terror agency, are examining the eyewitnesses who had seen the horrifying attack unfold before their eyes at the peaceful and picturesque Baisaran valley. The eyewitnesses are being questioned in minute detail to piece together the sequence of events that led to one of the worst terror attacks in Kashmir".