Srinagar, July 28: The Indian Army’s elite para commandos on Monday killed the mastermind of the Pahalgam terror attack and his two companions under ‘Operation Mahadev’ in an encounter in Mulnar area of โโHarwan on the outskirts of Srinagar. Weapons have also been recovered along with the bodies of the terrorists.
According to officials, Suleman alias Asif, who is believed to be the mastermind of the April 22 attack, was killed by security forces after launching “Operation Mahadev” after getting technical signals indicating the use of satellite phones used by the perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack. Other terrorists killed in the encounter have been identified as Jibran (who was involved in the Sonamarg tunnel attack last year) and Hamza Afghani.
The armed forces had launched “Operation Sindoor” against terror infrastructure in Pakistan on May 7 after militants gunned down 26 people, mostly tourists, in the Baisaran plains of Pahalgam.
Following intelligence inputs, the presence of another group of militants in the area was detected and additional troops of the Army and other security forces were rushed in, officials said. Killed Jibran was involved in the terror attack on the Sonamarg tunnel project in Gagangir in October last year in which seven people, including a doctor, were killed. One M4 carbine rifle, two AK rifles and other weapons were recovered from the encounter site. The bodies of the slain militants were handed over to the local police to facilitate identification process and to carry out legal formalities and last rites as per standard operating procedure.
Officials said that at around 11.30 am today, a party comprising jawans of 24 Rashtriya Rifles and 4 Para units detected a group of three militants.
Inspector General of Police (Kashmir Zone) V.K. Birdi said it was a long operation which was continuing till the final report was received.
Earlier, the Srinagar-based Chinar Corps had said in a post on X that three terrorists were killed under “Operation Mahadev”.
The Army’s Chinar Corps said that three terrorists have been killed in a fierce gunfight. The operation is ongoing.