Everything You Need to Know About Pulwama Attack 2019

 

Release of Masood Azhar and the Formation of Jaish-e-Mohammed

On 31st December 1999, due to the Kandahar hijack incident, India had to release Masood Azhar in Afghanistan. Now, Masood Azhar was released in Afghanistan, but two months later, i.e., in March 2000, he reached Bahawalpur in Pakistan. After his arrival, Pakistan's ISI organized a grand welcome for Masood Azhar. A rally was even held, and while standing in that rally, Masood Azhar officially launched Jaish-e-Mohammed. He declared that the members of Jaish-e-Mohammed would separate Kashmir from India.

Jaish-e-Mohammed's Initial Operations and Shift in Tactics

Now, Jaish-e-Mohammed was launched, and for the first five years after its creation, it recruited Kashmiris, trained them through ISI, led numerous attacks, and was involved in the Parliament attack during that period. Even in the years that followed, Jaish-e-Mohammed changed its operational model in Kashmir from time to time. However, Jaish-e-Mohammed had only one priority— to recruit young Kashmiris, train them, and lead them to attack India. Because it created the impression that Kashmiris themselves were standing against India, and Pakistan had no involvement.

Burhan Wani's Influence and Jaish-e-Mohammed's Response

Over the years, Jaish-e-Mohammed strengthened its presence in Kashmir. However, in 2015, something different happened. Before this, the commanders appointed in Kashmir remained hidden and maintained a low profile. But then, Burhan Wani introduced a new form of militancy. He was the first militant to post openly on social media instead of hiding. He openly challenged Indian forces, even posting before carrying out attacks. Because of this, he quickly gained popularity in Kashmir and rapidly influenced young Kashmiris to join militancy. Jaish-e-Mohammed admired Burhan Wani's approach, but before they could act on it, Indian forces killed Burhan Wani on July 8, 2016. His death triggered intense unrest in Kashmir.

Masood Azhar's Strategy and Key Operatives

At this moment, Masood Azhar decided that it was the perfect time to escalate attacks in Kashmir. While Masood Azhar remained in Pakistan, he relied on five key individuals: Umar Farooq, Usman Haider, Talha Masood, Ismail Alvi (also known as Lambu Bhai), and Abdul Rashid "Ghazi." These were his most trusted operatives. Among them, Talha, Usman, and Umar were from Masood Azhar's own family— his nephews.

Talha Masood's Mission to Expand Recruitment and OGW Network

Following Burhan Wani's d*ath, Masood Azhar sent Talha Masood to Kashmir in early 2017. He was appointed commander of South Kashmir. Talha's mission was to recruit as many young Kashmiris as possible into Jaish-e-Mohammed and expand the OGW network. OGW stands for Over Ground Worker. Jaish-e-Mohammed created a network of local supporters, primarily Kashmiris who were unwilling to take up arms against Indian forces themselves. Instead, they assisted other militants by providing shelter, monitoring Indian troop movements, sharing intelligence, handling logistics, and arranging safe houses. This was the role of OGWs. Jaish-e-Mohammed wanted to expand this network further. They played a critical role. A strong OGW network made carrying out attacks much easier. Jaish-e-Mohammed preferred recruiting locals like drivers and shopkeepers because they could move unnoticed while carrying out tasks for the group.

The Radicalization of Adil Dar

Now, in 2017, Adil Dar entered the scene—he would later become the key figure in the Pulwama attack. In the Kakapora area of Jammu & Kashmir’s Pulwama district, there is a village called Gundibagh, home to a government higher secondary school. Adil Dar was a 12th-grade student at this school. At the time, no one imagined that this teenager would one day lead a major attack. Adil had two close friends at school—Tauseef and Wasim. Among them, Tauseef was the most radicalized. His older brother had joined militancy and was later killed by Indian forces. Tauseef played a major role in influencing Adil and Wasim, convincing them that the Indian Army was their enemy. The three friends were still students when one day, Indian forces mistakenly detained Adil while cracking down on stone pelters. They held him for a few days before releasing him. The arrest wasn't entirely baseless— after Burhan Wani's death, Adil and his friends had participated in daily protests. And did stone pelting from Kakapora to Lethpora. In these instances, they were often arrested for stone pelting, then kept in prison and then released after some time. Similarly, one day a bullet was shot in Adil's foot, and due to the injury, he was on bed rest for many months. He had gone to the hospital, and due to this, he left his school. After some time, Adil healed, but after getting better, he did two things. First, he left school entirely. Secondly, he came in touch with Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind and joined them. They were also fighting against the Indian Govt. He also had to take care of his home. Adil had a neighbor who owned a wood cutting mill where wooden boxes were made. So, Adil started working there. Since he came in touch with Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind's people, his entire mindset changed. He worked in the wood mill for a few days, and then one day, while Adil was working in this wood mill, he met an electrician named Mudasir Khan. Adil came in touch with him. He was actually an OGW of Jaish-e-Mohammed. He influenced Adil and convinced him to join Jaish-e-Mohammed, and at that time, Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind was facing a shortage of weapons and resources, so Adil joined Jaish-e-Mohammed because of that. But when Adil joined Jaish-e-Mohammed, Mudasir told the commander of Jaish-e-Mohammed the same day that Adil could be very useful for their mission; he was a very passionate boy and had a lot of anger within him against Indian Forces.

The Killing of Talha Masood and Masood Azhar's Call for Revenge

These things were going on, and after a few days, on 6th November 2017, Indian forces encountered Talha, whom Masood Azhar had sent as a commander. This incident took place, and he was Masood's nephew. Regarding this, Masood got highly frustrated. Amid this incident, Masood Azhar organized rallies in Pakistan in which he said in front of everyone that he would take revenge on the Indian Forces and give them a strong answer.

Deployment of Usman and Umar to Kashmir

To avenge Talha, Masood called Usman and Umar, along with four of his other trustees, and told them that after Talha, they both had to go to Kashmir, lead this war forward, and take revenge. Usman and Umar were the sons of Ibrahim Athar, the mastermind behind the Kandahar Hijack, and they were also Masood's cousins. At that time, they decided that first, Usman would cross the border, and then Umar would follow. They crossed the border on new moon nights. On 11th January 2018, Usman first crossed the LOC from the Hiranagar sector, entered Kashmir, and became the commander of the South Kashmir area. Usman, who entered Kashmir, had a unique ski*l. He was a very good sniper. Using the light from phones at night, he could locate his target and as soon as Usman reached Kashmir, Indian Forces noticed a pattern: that the officers who used their mobiles at that time were the only ones shot. After three months, on 13th April 2018, Masood Azhar sent Umar as well. Remember the name Umar. He is the mastermind of the entire Pulwama attack.

Infiltration Across the LOC via Tunnels

At that time, they used to cross the border while wearing dark-colored clothes. So Umar wore a grey Calvin Klein t-shirt and, from Sukhmal, Pakistan, he entered Kashmir using a tunnel. Now, your question might be—how could they easily cross the LOC and enter Kashmir? Is there no one to stop them? The entire area of the LOC is very complicated. And to cross from one side to the other, Jaish-e-Mohammed had built several tunnels under the LOC, 3 meters wide and 25 meters deep, despite the marked border and fence. Some cement was used in between to prevent the tunnels from collapsing. At the entry and exit points, they planted trees, making it difficult to spot the tunnels. In the border area of Kathua and Samba districts, Jaish-e-Mohammed had constructed many tunnels. It was very difficult to stop them, and when these tunnels were exposed, Pakistani products were also found inside them, such as Fanta bottles from Gujranwala, Pakistan, which terrorists used.

Umar's Arrival in Kashmir and Establishment of Safe Houses

Using these tunnels, Umar reached Kashmir's Bein Nullah, and as soon as he arrived, an OGW named Ashiq Ahmed Nengroo was already waiting for him with a truck. The truck contained sacks of flour, which were meant to hide him inside. He had bought all the sacks of flour from Mahajan Flour Mill. This is how Umar and Usman arrived in Kashmir. At that time in Kashmir, an OGW named Abbas Rather had a vast network for arranging safe houses for terrorists. Whenever Jaish-e-Mohammed sent a terrorist from POK, Abbas was the one who arranged their stay, frequently changing their safe houses and handling all the arrangements. He arranged everything for Usman and Umar as well. Umar changed 2–3 safe houses over the next few days. Eventually, a Kashmiri named Shakir Bashir offered his house as a safe house, where Umar stayed. He remained there for a long time. The entire planning was done there, and explosives were gathered at this location, as will be mentioned later. During this period, Umar also stayed at Peer Tariq Ahmad’s house as a safe house. According to protocol, safe houses needed to be changed periodically. However, Umar fell in love with Peer Tariq’s daughter, Insha, which led him to stay there for a longer duration. Umar even gifted Insha a Redmi Note 5 Pro mobile. All the phones purchased during this time were bought from Bilal Badgam’s Gulshan Mobile Shop. Eventually, Insha also became involved in their mission. This is their picture from that time.

Adil Dar Joins Jaish-e-Mohammed and Receives Training

Meanwhile, Adil had also joined Jaish-e-Mohammed, and for a larger attack, Jaish-e-Mohammed called Adil and 70 other young Kashmiris for training. They were all trained in Balakot and Bahawalpur. Following this, on 19th March 2018, Adil and his school friends disappeared from their homes. Adil’s parents searched for him for many days, but when they were unable to find him, they filed a report at the Kakapora Police Station in Pulwama. For nearly 10–15 days, everyone was searching for him. Then, in the first week of April, a photo of Adil was shared on social media, in which he was seen holding an AK-47. He announced that he had joined Jaish-e-Mohammed and even revealed his code name— Waqas Commando of GundiBagh. When this image surfaced, the Indian Forces did not initially consider it a major threat and classified him under the "C" category of terrorists. The "A" category consists of more dangerous individuals than the "C" category. However, despite being in the "C" category, Adil would go on to lead a major attack. Following this, Adil and his friends traveled to POK, where their specialized training began. During this training, their instructor was Abdul Rashid Gazhi. As part of the training process, they had to choose a specific category. There were two categories: Istishadi and Inghimasi. Istishadi training was for suicide Bombers, while Inghimasi training was for suicide fighters. Adil chose the Istishadi category. Here, he was trained in bomb-making, as well as driving a vehicle loaded with RDX. He completed his entire training there. During this time, their instructor, Abdul Rashid Gazhi, developed a strong preference for Adil, as he harbored greater hatred towards the Indian Forces than the others. Secondly, he was ready to be ambushed, and the place where Jaish-e-Mohammed's leadership was thinking of attacking. Adil was local to it, so he knew every spot. So, when Adil completed his training, he also crossed the Jammu-Samba sector border and came back to Kashmir.

Assembly of Key Figures and RDX in Kashmir

Now, from here, Usman, Umar, and Adil – all of them had reached Kashmir. And after this, they were going to attack. Okay, there's one more thing in it. All the people who crossed the border – even the NIA has mentioned in its charge sheet that these people brought 20-25 kg of military-grade RDX in their bags, which can't be found in the open market. Like, when Umar had entered, he brought 25 kg of RDX with him, and all this RDX was brought to different locations in Kashmir, which were handled by OGWs.

The Killing of Usman and the "Qisas Operation"

After this comes the date, 30th October, 2018. And on this day, Usman, who was the sniper, attacked by looking at the mobile's light, was killed by Indian forces. Now, when Indian forces killed him, it was a huge turning point, after which the planning of the Pulwama attack was triggered even more. Masood Azhar's two most important family members – first, Talha, and second, Usman, were killed, and as soon as Masood Azhar got to know about it, he was very angry that day and even sent Umar a recorded message of 3 minutes and 49 seconds. Basically, in this voice note, he says, “You don't have to wait now. We'll have to take revenge quickly.” And based on the voice note, they named this entire operation the "Qisas Operation." It means the operation of revenge.

Approval for VBIED Attack and Financial Transactions

And then Masood Azhar, after talking to Umar, sends his close, trusted bodyguard named Mohammed Ismail, who was also called Lambu Bhai, to Kashmir. He also carried 10-12 kg of RDX on his back and entered Kashmir. And Masood Azhar takes approval for the VBIED (Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device)-based Fidayeen attack. All the militants who enter Kashmir – be it launching bombs, if there's an informer of the Indian agency, if they have to kill him, then they don’t need approval. They can make the decision themselves on the spot, but whenever a huge military attack has to be done on a bigger convoy, then they require approval from Jaish-e-Mohammed's leadership and Pakistan's ISI. So, as soon as they got the approval for this plan, all the people who entered Kashmir got involved in planning the VBIED-based Fidayeen attack. And Adil Dar was selected to execute this entire attack. And the money required for this entire attack was deposited by Masood Azhar from two bank accounts of Allied Bank and Mezaan Bank, which was sent to Umar through Hawala. During the investigation, some more transactions were discovered. This is the copy of the cheque book that was seized. And the money that was transferred here and there, through chat, this is the original copy of that WhatsApp chat.

Gathering Materials for the VBIED

So, according to the plan, Adil would use a car to carry out a VBIED attack on the army's convoy. And for this, they started gathering all the materials. So that the bomb could be made. They had to carry out a huge attack, so the RDX that they brought little by little from POK over many days to different locations in Kashmir, Umar started gathering them through handlers at one place. And along with that, there were cement mines in Pulwama, Khunmoh, Awantipura, Lethpora, where gelatin sticks were used – basically, they’re commercial explosives that come in handy while organizing an explosion. So they took help from local OGWs and in batches of 5-10 kg, they smug*led 500 gelatin sticks and gathered them. The sticks they gathered had "Super Power 90" written on them. And along with that, they gathered a few more things, like 30 kg of silver aluminum powder, a weighing machine, 80 kg of ammonium nitrate, and a blue-colored plastic drum from Kakapora market. They ordered ammonia through Amazon, and when they received all these things, they had to decide where this bomb would be assembled.

Bomb Assembly and Surveillance of Army Convoys

So, Umar mainly stayed at Shakir's house or at Insha's house. So Umar decided to assemble the bomb at Shakir's house. And for that, whatever materials they brought were gathered at Shakir's house, where he had a storeroom on the terrace. And along with it, Shakir, at whose home they were gathering the materials, also had a furniture shop near the highway. So Umar told Shakir to be at the furniture shop, and he was given the task of noting the movement of the army's convoys daily in a notebook. He was to record all the army convoys passing through the highway. And forward all the information. Shakir carried out this task daily. He noted everything, and in between, he took the scooter, drove around the nearby area, and recorded a video there. Within a very short time, Shakir memorized everything. He knew that the blue trucks with khaki-colored tarpaulins contained luggage. Officers traveled in white Gypsies. Soldiers traveled in blue buses, and along with them, when a convoy arrived, the ROP team assisted. He noted everything and sent every detail to Umar. Then one day, on January 27, 2019, Shakir sent Umar a video of a location on NH-49, which Umar liked a lot because it had empty service lanes around it with minimal barricading, making it easy to drive an unknown car onto the highway. So they fixed this location as the spot where they would attack the convoy.

Intelligence Warnings Ignored Prior to the Attack

While they were making these preparations, on the other hand, Indian intelligence agencies were receiving back-to-back intelligence reports. The first input came on January 2, 2019, stating that Jaish-e-Mohammed was planning a 'Qisas mission' in South Kashmir. This intelligence was sent on the same day to the Director General of Police of Jammu & Kashmir and the Inspector General of Police. But nothing happened that day. The next day, Indian agencies prepared another report titled Impending Danger. This report mentioned the possibility of a major attack on a CRPF camp. Then, four days later, an input was received stating that local youth were planning to use an IED in an attack. Similarly, on January 18, intelligence indicated that 20 terrorists had reached Awantipora and were planning an attack. Further inputs were received on January 21 and January 24, and even the day before the attack. A total of 11 intelligence reports were received, warning of an imminent large-scale attack. But no action was taken.

Assembling the Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED)

After this, all the bomb-making materials were gathered, but they also needed a car for the attack. In the last week of January, Umar assigned an OGW named Sajjad to buy a car large enough to fit two big containers. Sajjad purchased a pearl blue 2011 model Eco car for Rs 1.85 lakh, bearing the number JK03C-1886. Immediately after, he erased the car's chassis number. He parked it at Shakir's home, where all the bomb materials were to be assembled. Meanwhile, through one of his sources, Umar learned that on February 6, 2019, a large CRPF convoy was scheduled to arrive. So, all the conspirators sped up the process. Umar, trained in Afghanistan's Sangin to make VBIEDs, was assembling the entire bomb, while the others merely assisted him. They began layering RDX, ammonium nitrate, and gelatin sticks coated with ammonium powder inside a blue container and an orange container. A total of 200 kg of explosives was prepared—40 kg in the orange container and 160 kg in the blue container—after which they placed them in the middle seat of the car. The main switch, which would trigger the blast, was attached near the car's steering wheel. With the car fully prepared, they waited for the exact date of the CRPF convoy's movement. They would attack as soon as they received the information.

Lack of Remorse and Preparation of a Propaganda Video

During the entire preparation process, they felt no remorse. They showed no fear. Instead, they even joked and had fun while making the bomb. They clicked pictures of themselves covered in smudged silver aluminum powder on their hair, face, and clothes. This is the original photo. While all this was happening, they were also mentally preparing Adil to ensure he wouldn’t back out at the last moment. However, in case he did, they had a backup—Yawar Ahmed Najar. They wanted the attack to appear as though Kashmir’s youth were retaliating against the Indian government. Pakistan has no role in it. And for this reason, they had already decided that they'd have Adil make a video and release it after the attack. So, for this, on 27th January 2019, Umar took Adil to Insha's house, gave him a script that they had to make a video and just read the script. Adil was prepared, they made him hold an M-4 rifle, and Jaish-e-Mohammed's banner was put up behind him. Then, they started making the video. This is that image; you can also find the entire video on YouTube. But while making the video, a problem arose. Adil couldn’t read the script in the video. Even after trying a lot, when Adil couldn’t say it, they placed Adil in the video and attached someone else’s voiceover. That’s why in the video, Adil was just lip-syncing. Someone else had read the script.

Delay and Build-up of the CRPF Convoy

So, while this was going on, on the other hand, when soldiers go on a holiday, while returning, they gather up in transit camps and then travel by convoy to their respective postings. Similarly, the Jammu transit camp was located behind the Jammu Railway Station. From here, the soldiers of the CRPF who had returned from holiday were gathering. It was decided that after coming here, in the first week of February, their convoy would be sent towards Srinagar via the NH-44 highway. They had to go from the Jammu transit camp to Srinagar. The Jammu transit camp, where soldiers were gathering, had a capacity of 100 soldiers, but they were stopped here. There were many reasons behind this. One was that they were receiving intelligence reports that the convoy could be attacked. Secondly, there were some sensitive dates coming up, such as 5th February, which is celebrated as Kashmir Solidarity Day. And then, 9th and 11th February, which marked the death anniversaries of Maqbool Bhat and Afzal Guru. These were very sensitive dates, so the chance of an attack increased significantly. Because of this, they were stopped, and it was being decided on which date they would be sent. But the problem was that due to the delay, the soldiers in the Jammu transit camp were gathering more than the capacity. After multiple meetings, it was decided that on 6th February 2019, the CRPF convoy would be sent. They wouldn’t wait any longer, and as soon as this date was decided, on 4th February 2019, heavy snowfall started. Even the next day, i.e., 5th February, the snowfall didn’t stop. Due to this, the NH-44 highway was blocked. On the same day, 5th February 2019, in Pakistan’s Peshawar, Masood Azhar organized a rally where he spoke about an attack in Pulwama. This convoy had to travel through that same area. So, looking at these factors, the convoy was stopped, and the number of soldiers in the Jammu transit camp kept increasing.

Finalizing the Convoy Movement and Unusual Circumstances

When this situation was unfolding, Jammu and Kashmir’s then governor, Satyapal Malik, even said in an interview later that at that time, he had told the government to airlift them, but he said the government didn’t listen to him. After this, the snowfall stopped, and by 13th February, NH-44 was cleared. When no other option was left, the date was finalized: on 14th February 2019, the CRPF convoy would set out from the Jammu transit camp. When this was finalized, on the same day, 13th February 2019, the CRPF unit was also informed that the next day, at 3:30 am, their convoy would set out. This convoy consisted of 78 buses carrying 2547 CRPF soldiers, who had to complete a 271 km journey via the NH-44 highway. Normally, convoys aren’t this large, but because of the delay, the crowd had increased. So, permission was granted for this huge convoy. The next day, i.e., 14th February 2019, at 3:30 am, CRPF’s buses, 15 trucks, 2 ITBP buses, a spare bus, a recovery van, an ambulance, and at the very end of the convoy, the assistant commandant in his white Gypsy, started getting ready to set out. Just before the convoy headed out, two things happened. Bus no. 5 in this convoy, which was blue and numbered HR49F0637, which would be attacked later, had to be driven by Head Constable Kirpal Singh. It was his daughter’s wedding, so he had applied for leave. Everyone was discussing that, even by mistake, if snowfall occurred again, he would miss his daughter’s wedding. At such a time, Jaimal Singh himself said he would drive the bus instead of him, so he wouldn’t risk missing his daughter’s marriage. Secondly, in the same bus no. 5, CRPF constable Thaka Belkar from Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, was going to get married in 10 days, so he had also applied for leave. So just before this convoy set out, his leave was approved. At the last moment, he got off bus no. 5, and it was such a coincidence that in the future, both their lives were saved.

Convoy Departure and Road Opening Procedures

From here, CRPF's convoy had to set out in a few moments. Whenever a convoy sets out, before it departs, according to the rule, first, anti-sabotage checks are conducted by ROP - Road Opening Parties. What happens is that soldiers are sent along the convoy's route. First, ROP checks the entire route and secures it to ensure there are no issues. Once ROP gives the OK, the convoy sets out. So, when this convoy was set to depart, ROP's team set out to check NH 44 highway. This ROP team had to check a 10 km stretch from Barso to Hathiwara Morh on NH 44 highway, from milestone 262.2 to milestone 272.2. The ROP team checked this route and took positions at a total of 10 points. At one point, near Ladhu Morh at milestone 272.2, Assistant Sub-Inspector Mohan Lal was posted with his team at 7:15 AM. If they spotted any suspicious activity, they would take action immediately. While this was happening, on the other hand, Umar had prepared the bomb and was waiting for the CRPF convoy to arrive at NH 44. Just then, Shakir Bashir, who was spying from his furniture shop, noticed ROP being deployed on NH 44. He understood from this that the convoy was going to arrive today. He quickly called Umar and told him to be ready. Immediately, Umar and the others prepared themselves.

Convoy Movement and Security Lapses

Meanwhile, the convoy started moving, and after some time, it crossed the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee tunnel and reached Peerah. Until now, there had been no problems. Previously, in the Peerah area, the convoy would stop for lunch. However, due to multiple intelligence inputs, this area was considered attack-prone, so they did not stop for lunch. As the convoy traveled, local traffic was also moving alongside. Previously, local traffic was not allowed to travel with the convoy due to security concerns. However, in 2003, the Jammu & Kashmir government strongly opposed this restriction, arguing that the convoy disrupted the entire road’s traffic. As a result, the rule was removed, allowing local traffic to travel alongside the convoy's buses. At that time, delaying civilians was considered more important than soldiers' lives. At 2:02 PM, after turning left from the highway, the convoy reached Qazikund transit. Until this point, there were no issues. After reaching Qazikund transit camp, soldiers stationed in Anantnag, Kulgam, and Shopian areas disembarked. After this, the rest of the convoy had to proceed further. The next area was very sensitive. This area had a history of frequent attacks on convoys. Therefore, a rule had been established that whenever the convoy passed through this region, they must travel only in semi-bulletproof buses; otherwise, they would not proceed. However, the problem was that there were only 15 semi-bulletproof buses, and due to the large number of personnel, even regular buses were allowed to move forward. Bus No. 5 was not bulletproof.

Final Moments Before the Attack

As they exited the Qazikund transit camp, something else happened. As the convoy moved forward, CRPF constable Surender Yadav, who was in bus no. 5, was called by his friends to sit with them in another vehicle. Feeling troubled, he got off and joined them. At that time, he had no idea that this decision would save his life because, in just a few moments, bus no. 5 was about to be ambushed. After Surender Yadav got off, 39 soldiers remained on this bus. At 2:42 PM, the convoy moved out of the Qazikund transit camp. Some were listening to music, one soldier was on a video call, and some were engaged in conversation. Meanwhile, the ROP team was supporting the convoy from different strategic points, standing alert on both sides of the highway. As the convoy moved forward, Umar sent Adil with Shakir in the bomb-fitted car. After covering a short distance, upon reaching Hazibal bridge, Shakir hugged Adil. Adil then took off his watch and gave it to Shakir as a memento. "When I die, this will make you remember me." And then, from Hazibal bridge, Adil drives alone to attack.

Pulwama Attack: Setting the Scene and Initial Response

Let me explain the entire map to you. This is the entire area in Pulwama district. Here, this is the entire NH 44 highway. The CRPF convoy was going from Jammu Transit camp to Srinagar. There's a road beside it, which was connected here with NH 44. This point is called Ladhu Morh, where ASIs were appointed. And the second road was coming from Hazibal bridge. Now Adil moves forward from the bridge, on the other hand, CRPF's convoy was moving forward on NH 44. Now from here, Adil moves forward on this route, but since he sees police barricading, he takes a U-turn and enters NH 44 from Ladhu Morh. By then, a couple of CRPF buses had passed by. I already told you in the beginning that ASI Mohan Lal was keeping an eye at the Ladhu Morh point. So as soon as he sees a car, he gets alerted. And he notices that Adil's car is moving forward with abnormal speed. And is trying to get amidst the convoy. The way the car is being driven, he suspects this car. At 2:50 PM, looking at the car, a coded message 444 starts flashing on the wireless frequency & CRPF walkie-talkie. This is a high alert signal. Everyone gets alert. ASI Mohan Lal quickly whistles and stops it, but Adil doesn't stop the car; instead, he increases the speed. ASI Mohan Lal goes behind him and even starts firing at the car. And as soon as the firing starts, the car leaves 3 buses and crashes with Bus no. 5. The car starts moving left and right, and at 3:15 PM at the 272 milestone, if I talk about the exact location, then in Pampore tehsil of Jammu & Kashmir's Pulwama district, near Lethpora village, it crashes and explodes. This attack was so huge that Bus No. 5 almost turned to dust. The buses before and after it were also damaged. When the blast occurred, it could be heard up to 10 km away. The bus pieces and soldiers' body parts flew up to 500-600 meters away. I won't be able to tell you much, but with the picture of the bus, you can imagine what would have happened with the soldiers inside the bus. 39 CRPF soldiers and 1 ASI Mohan Lal, who was chasing, a total of 40 soldiers were martyred. And more than 20 were injured. This was a huge attack, not a normal one. Now, as soon as it happened in Pulwama, the rescue team, Counter Terrorism Tactics (CTT), Local CRPF, CFSL (Central Forensic Science Laboratory) from Chandigarh and Delhi, all these teams reached the location, so that they could understand how it happened and who did it. Nothing was left; everything turned into small pieces.

Forensic Investigation and Jaish-e-Mohammed's Claim

Now, when the search operation started, at that time, the CSFL team found a car's crankshaft. They immediately called Maruti company's expert team, who did a technical inspection to find out to whom Maruti company had sold the car. At the same time, they found out from the lab results which materials were used in the bomb, what type it was—everything came to light. And after some time, on the same day, 14th February 2019, at 4:30 PM, Jaish-e-Mohammed's spokesperson sent a video on WhatsApp to Srinagar's news agency, Global News Service. The same Adil's video, and this video became viral very quickly. It reached even security forces. As soon as the Indian forces watched the video, they understood that Adil is present in the video because they had arrested him earlier many times. And they had listed him in C category. They sought his entire report, from which they found out that he had even crossed the border to POK, taken training, and they got to know everything about him, including how much RDX he brought into Kashmir.

Unraveling the Conspiracy: Voice Analysis and Pakistan's Involvement

This entire case was led by Manipur Cader's IPS, Rakesh Balwal. He watched Adil's video multiple times, and he had a doubt that the voice-over was done. The video wasn't in sync. And because of this, he suspected that someone else from Pakistan had attacked, and only Kashmir's Adil was made to film the video so that it would seem a Kashmiri youth had attacked. So after this, on the same day, this video was sent to America's FBI, and the FBI helped in this and told that the WhatsApp account through which Adil's video was sent had a SIM issued in the name of a lady in Kashmir, Jamila. And along with that, they also found out that a voice-over had been done in the video. Now Indian agencies went to look for Jamila. They came to know that she had already died. The FBI tracked the location of the WhatsApp account user, and this location was found to be on the other side of the LOC—Muzaffarabad. And they also found out that the planners of the Pulwama attack were in touch, and from here, for the first time, they got a small official proof of Pakistan's involvement in it.

International Repercussions and Tracing the Vehicle's History

Now, as soon as Pakistan's name came into the scene, Pakistani actors and singers were banned. India stopped trade. The G-7 nations' Financial Action Task Force (FATF) listed Pakistan in the 'grey list'. The leaders of different political parties in India used their ultimate weapon, which caused great damage. They condemned it harshly. Now, when these things were investigated, Maruti company sent the report of the crankshaft, in which the chassis number was erased in many areas, but even after that, they were able to find out. They even found out the engine number, which you can see on the screen. The car used in the attack was bought and sold seven times. Indian agencies started catching all the seven buyers of this car, one by one. And at last, when they reached the last buyer, they found out that Danish Rashid sold it through Sajjad Maqbool Bhat and took a commission of Rs 15,000.

The Escape of Sajjad Maqbool Bhat and Renewed Investigation Efforts

Now, when Sajjad's name came forward, Indian agencies went to catch Sajjad. He had fled from his home, and in Burhan Wani style, he had posted a picture on social media with an AK-47 and went towards POK. Now, when they couldn't track Sajjad, the investigation stopped again. Entire India was filled with anger. Agencies had to catch him in a very short time. And just taking Pakistan's name wouldn't work; they had to gather solid proof. Now after this, NIA's Rakesh Balwal thought that, at the place where this incident occurred, they should conduct a search operation around its nearby area. They might find something. But the problem was that this area was a bit sensitive. Whenever such search operations are conducted, stone pelting starts. But Rakesh Balwal took special permission from Delhi, and then on 20th February 2019, he took 100 NIA officers and 400 CRPF personnel along with him and started the search operation.

Key Evidence Recovered: Confirming Adil's Role but the Mastermind Remains Elusive

And this worked. 250 meters away from where this incident occurred, near Jhelum River, a car key was found in the snow on which 1026 was written. And further away, they found some pieces of bone. Rakesh Balwal matched those pieces of bone with the DNA of Adil's father, and it matched. So this confirmed that Adil carried out this attack, and the car through which he did it, they had already got its details. But they couldn't find out the mastermind in Pakistan who was involved. Because they couldn't find out where the RDX came from, as it's not found in fields. A local Kashmiri took it and exploded the car. So, finding the people in Pakistan who were behind it was an important task. Umar, who did all this, had changed his location and vanished. The rest of the search operation and investigation was still going on.

Retaliation and the Killing of a Key Coordinator, Unknowingly

At the same time, the Air Force entered Pakistan and conducted an airstrike on the area of Balakot's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where Jaish-e-Mohammed was conducting a terror camp. So after this, Indian forces were encountering Jaish-e-Mohammed's handlers one by one in Kashmir. In between, on 18th June 2019, the one who arranged the eco car, Sajjad Bhatt, was also found. He was also killed in Marhama, Bijbehara area. But as you already know, the main person behind this was Umar. He was also left, and how Umar was kil*ed is a huge coincidence in itself. Actually, before this attack, Umar often used to threaten police officers. A long time ago, Umar had sent a WhatsApp message to an officer of Pulwama with a random number, where he added an emoji of a pistol, and below, he had written, "Hi Janu (Love). I will come to your house and kill you." After sending this message, this number was switched off. So, the police officer saved this number as 'Hi Janu' and sent this number to the cyber cell for tracking. The message that Umar sent further created problems for him because when this attack was done, Umar needed a number to talk urgently. So, after the attack, on 27th March 2019, Umar switched the 'Hi Janu' number. As soon as the number was switched on, the message of 'Hi Janu' reflected on the cyber cell's monitoring system. Umar's location was detected in Suthsoo Kalan, southwest of Naugam, towards Budgam. And then Umar was shot at this location. Now, Umar was shot, but Indian forces were clueless that, by mistake, they had killed the mastermind of the Pulwama attack. Because Umar's name in the Indian records was Idrish Bhai, and he had made a fake ID with this name. When he was encountered, an M4 rifle, iPhone, and Samsung Note S-9 Plus were found in his possession, but he had already broken these two phones before the encounter. So the police didn't take this encounter seriously, and everyone was focused on searching for the mastermind of the Pulwama attack. The broken phones, which were found from Umar, were kept in the Jammu & Kashmir police station, and nobody was even checking them.

The Breakthrough: Recovering Deleted Data and Identifying the Mastermind

So what I mean to say is, Indian agencies at that time were searching for the person who was already killed. They kept searching for him for many months, but when they found nothing, in July 2019, NIA's head, Rakesh Balwal, said that they would find nothing this way. Let's reopen the old case; we might get a lead from there. Now, after this, all the old cases were reopened. But Rakesh Balwal turned his attention towards the 'Hi Janu' - Idrish case. He felt that this Idrish Bhai could be a bigger fish, and he said this because when he was encountered, an M4 rifle was found with him, which is generally used by Jaish-e-Mohammed's leadership. The rest of the others keep AK-47s, and he was wearing an Adidas t-shirt. So, he felt that he must be a huge commander. When this case was reopened, the phones found during Umar's encounter were sent to India's top Computer Forensic & Cyber Security Agency, CERT-In, for analysis. CERT-In worked hard for many days, found every detail of the phone, and when they were finding out the details, they hit a huge jackpot. Before smashing these phones, Umar had deleted all the data, but as we buy a new phone, the cloud fetches the data from the old mobile, so the same happened in this case. CERT-In's team got more than 100 GB of data since 2014. 16 hours of voice notes related to the Pulwama attack, text messages, and videos of spying on the location. They got everything. And as soon as they found it, NIA's team analyzed this entire data for the next 14 hours. They found out that Idrish Bhai is none other than the Pulwama attack's mastermind, Masood Azhar's nephew, and the son of the one who conducted the Kandahar hijack, Umar, who made the bomb and made Adil carry out the attack. This was his Pakistani ID card, and this is the photocopy of his checkbook. They found out which RDX was used, how the RDX was gathered, and how the entire attack was coordinated. They even got soft calls during this attack. When NIA traced it, the number was revealed to be used in different cities of Pakistan. And the same number led the coordination during the attack. They even got a voice note in which someone was coordinating with Umar during the attack. And along with that, he was telling him to film a video and destroy the mobile. NIA thought this person was Pakistan's Rauf Asgar. So NIA matched this voice sample with Rauf Chacha's voice sample available in the open source, where it matched exactly, and this became a big proof of Pakistan's involvement.

Arrests and Confessions: Piecing Together the Conspiracy

Along with it, they got Umar—the mastermind—his intimate photos with Insha in Kashmir, when they were making bombs, then they coated their faces with silver and clicked photos. They got those photos as well. They got another photo in which the car with which the attack was carried out was standing outside a house, which belonged to Shakir Bashir, where they made the bomb. So, NIA's team reached his home. The location of his house was Kausar Colony, Bahawalpur. And on 7th December 2019, Shakir Bashir was arrested. There were many pictures of Umar and Insha in the mobile. So NIA's team reached Insha's home as well. And when they reached there, NIA found a red-black colored almirah, the same almirah which could be seen below Jaish-e-Mohammed's banner in Adil's video. So, NIA arrested Insha and her father, Peer Tariq, on 3rd March 2020. Similarly, through an Amazon account, they found the 19-year-old boy who was preparing for NEET, Waiz Ul Islam, and arrested him on 7th March 2020. All the materials that were bought through his Amazon account. Similarly, Mohammed Abbas, who had a huge network of safe houses, was arrested. Through Gulshan Mobile Shop, Bilal Kuchey was caught, who was working together with Adil and who even went to POK as well. Similarly, all the people who were involved in Kashmir were arrested. And then they were made to confess everything. In the beginning, Insha was calling Umar her brother and denying. But when NIA showed the photos and voice notes, Insha had to accept everything, and she told everything. Shakir was the toughest among them all. He wasn't telling anything. But after some time, Rakesh Balwal showed Shakir, Umar, and Insha's intimate photos. Then Shakir was very shocked when he saw this because he thought Umar to be very nice. Umar was married, so this hurt Shakir so much that after some time, he told NIA about all the planning. And then on 25th August 2020, NIA decoded this entire case and filed a 13,800-page charge sheet in the court. And a major crackdown occurred in Kashmir. Those who were involved in it were all punished.