Hours after Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the three terrorists killed on the outskirts of Srinagar on Monday were the same ones who carried out the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack, former J&K chief minister and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said that “if they were truly the same terrorists, then this is good, they have been given a lesson that terror can never succeed”.
Speaking on the sidelines of an event in Srinagar, Abdullah said, “I have not seen them, I do not know who they are. Only those who have seen them (the terrorists), can identify them.”
Speaking in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Shah identified the three terrorists, who were killed in the Dachigam forest area, as Suleiman alias Faisal, Afghan and Jibran, and said they had come from Pakistan.
“Suleiman was a LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba) commander and was involved in the Gagangeer attack. Our forces have evidence on it. These three were involved, and all three have been killed. Through this House, I thank the security personnel involved,” said Shah.
“Yesterday’s operation saw the death of three who killed our citizens… NIA had kept those who helped these terrorists in custody, and they confirmed that these three were the ones who conducted the terror attack in Pahalgam. We didn’t believe this either. Cartridges recovered at the site of attack were analysed, and a ballistic report was prepared. Three rifles were recovered yesterday – one M9 American rifle and two AK-47s. These rifles were sent to Chandigarh, and the cartridges were matched. Then, it was fixed that these three rifles were used to kill our people,” said Shah.
He said six experts had verified the ballistic report on the cartridges. “And they have said that they match 100 per cent”.
