A local youth named Arju Bashir had reportedly informed the Jammu and Kashmir police of being approached by the Jaish-e-Mohammed, to execute a similar kind of attack in 2017. He was asked by the terrorist organisation to ram an explosive-laden vehicle into an army convoy.
The Pulwama attack which took away the lives of 44 CRPF personnel, has brought the 2017 complaint of the 19-year-old youth back in focus. The investigators are approaching Bashir to ascertain if there are any common links between the JeM plan then and now.
They are trying to find if the same people who approached Bashir were involved in providing explosives to Adil Dar, the 22-year old suicide bomber, who rammed his car, packed with 300 kgs of explosives, into the CRPF convoy, effectuating the worst kind of attack in the last three decades.
The investigators are also questioning people from the local madrassa where Adil Dar used to go after he dropped out of class 12.
According to the agency probing the attack, Pakistan-based terrorists Rashid Ghazi and Kamran are likely to be the main Jaish operatives responsible for the terror attack. Both the terrorists are believed to be in and around Tral and may have conspired and trained Adil for the attack.
Handpicked by Jaish head Masood Azhar to avenge the killing of his nephews, Ghazi is said to have fought earlier in Afghanistan. An IED expert, Ghazi is believed to have been sent for the purpose of training locals.
The attack took place on February 14 when CRPF’s 76th Battalion was returning from leave to join duty in Srinagar.
