NIA chief visits Pulwama attack site; fresh case filed by agency

NIA chief visits Pulwama attack site; fresh case filed by agency

NIA chief Yogesh Chander Modi on Wednesday visited the scene of last week’s attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir that left 40 troopers dead as the central counterterrorism agency registered a case in connection with the assault.

india Updated: Feb 20, 2019 22:55 IST
The attack scene has remained closed for traffic and nobody has been allowed to go near the spot.(ANI)

National Investigation Agency (NIA) chief Yogesh Chander Modi on Wednesday visited the scene of last week’s attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in Kashmir that left 40 troopers dead as the central counterterrorism agency registered a case in connection with the assault.

He met top army and Jammu and Kashmir Police officers, according to an NIA statement.

The police had registered a case in connection with the attack on Thursday last days before the Centre handed over the probe into the assault to NIA Tuesday.

The NIA re-registered the case on Wednesday, the counterterrorism agency said in the statement. The statement added Yogesh Chander Modi visited the scene along with a team of top officers. “He was briefed by the officers about the progress made in [the] investigation so far.”

The attack scene has remained closed for traffic and nobody has been allowed to go near the spot. Forensic experts and NIA teams have visited the scene and concluded that the use of RDX in the attack had been the main reason for the high causalities.

At a joint press conference on Tuesday, army, police and CRPF officers said they have got leads in this attack but would not share them with media as it will hamper the investigations. Army’s Srinagar-based 15 Corps commander, Lt Gen Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon, said the forces eliminated the JeM leadership in the Valley within less than 100 hours of the attack. The JeM has claimed responsibility for the attack.

First Published: Feb 20, 2019 22:55 IST