A year after the Pulwama attack, the investigators are still clueless about the source of explosives that was used to trigger the deadliest suicide bombing in Kashmir’s recent troubled past.
A Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber identified as Aadil Dar rammed an explosive-laden into a CRPF convoy in Pulwama’s Lethpora, killing at least 49 paramilitary troopers and injuring more than four dozen.
After initial investigations by J&K Police, the case was handed over to the National Investigations Agency which hasn’t made much headway so far.
Although the agency has blamed Pakistan based Jaish outfit for the attack, investigators have not been able to unearth the conspiracy behind the killings that brought India and Pakistani on the brink of a full-fledged war.
That the investigations may have hit a dead end can be gauged from the fact that the agency has not filed a charge-sheet in the case so far, nor has it been able to source the origin of the heavy explosives used in the attack.
“We have little knowledge about the nature of explosives. As it was raining on the fateful day, the site of explosion was drenched. And whatever traces of explosives may have been there were washed away by fire engines that were rushed to the spot to douse the blaze caused by the explosion,” sources said.
Sources said a mixture of ammonium nitrate, nitro-glycerine and RDX may have been used in the bomb.
“Investigations have been hampered also by the fact that none of the key suspects are alive.
A convoy on the Kashmir highway was targeted by Dar in Pulwama on 14 February 2019 at around 3.15 pm at Awantipora’s Goripura. The impact of the blast reduced the bus to a mangled heap.
Following the attack, banned terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed responsibility and even released a video of the purported attacker.
The explosives, which the police had initially suspected to be IEDs, were planted on a vehicle that was parked on the Jammu and Kashmir national highway, according to police sources.
The police claimed that the car came on the wrong carriageway and collided head-on with the bus, which was a part of a larger convoy.
According to the CRPF, over 2,500 personnel were travelling on the highway in 78 vehicles when the attack took place. The bus that sustained maximum impact belonged to the 76 battalion of the CRPF and was travelling with 39 personnel.
In a video released after the attack, Dar said he joined Jaish’s “fidayeen squad” for a “purpose”, adding that he had waited for this moment for a year. “By the time this video reaches you, I will be in heaven,” he said.
“I am proud that I am the real propagator of Islam and my name will be written in golden letters.”
The NIA had identified JeM operatives Mudasir Ahmed Khan, Qari Mufti Yasser, Kamran and Sajjad Ahmed Bhat, as key suspects All of them were killed in encounters with security forces over the last year.
While Mudasir Khan was killed on 10 March 2019, Kamran was killed on 29 March, Sajjad Bhat on 18 June and Qari Yasser on 25 January this year.
According to NIA sources, it was JeM senior commander Mudassir Khan who hatched a conspiracy to carry out the attack.