Police releases sketches, announces bounty of Rs 20 lakh
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Apr 23: Security forces have launched a massive manhunt against the perpetrators of the dastardly terror act in Pahalgam in which 26 people including 25 tourists were killed.
Para-Commandos and drones are being used to scan the forest area in Pahalgam and adjacent areas and para-commandos of Army, Police, Army and CRPF troops are searching the area.
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An official said that over 100 Over Ground Workers and suspected militant sympathisers were detained for any clues about the attackers or those who may have helped them in carrying out the attack.
Security agencies released the sketches of three men suspected to be involved in the attack.
The men, at least two of them Pakistani, are Asif Fauji, Suleman Shah and Abu Talha. They had code names Moosa, Yunus and Asif and were involved in terror-related incidents in Poonch.
The sketches were prepared with the help of survivors.
From the pencil sketches, in black and white, they appear to be young and have beards.
The Resistance Front (TRF), a shadow outfit of the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba group, claimed responsibility for the attack on Tuesday afternoon.
In the meantime, Police today announced a bounty of Rs 20 lakh for information leading to the neutralisation of terrorists involved in the gruesome killing of tourists in Pahalgam.
“Any information leading to the neutralisation of terrorists involved in this cowardly act shall be rewarded Rs 20 lakh,” Anantnag police said in a post on its official X handle.
The identity of the informer shall be kept a secret, the police added.
Twenty-six people, including 25 tourists, were killed when terrorists opened fire in Pahalgam on Tuesday afternoon. The horrific incident is the deadliest attack in the Valley since the Pulwama strike in 2019.
Meanwhile, a team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) led by an Inspector General today reached terror-hit Pahalgam.
The team would provide assistance to the local police probing Tuesday’s dastardly terrorist attack. The anti-terror agency’s team visited the Baisaran meadow near Pahalgam, the spot of Tuesday’s deadly terrorist strike, they said.
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