Pulwama terror attack case: NIA chargesheet to name Masood Azhar, his brother as main conspirators

NEW DELHI: National Investigation Agency (NIA) chargesheet in the February 2019 Pulwama terror attack case, to be filed on Tuesday afternoon, will name Jaish e Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar and his brother Abdul Rauf Asghar as main masterminds and conspirators.
Officials said the chargesheet will also put out digital imprint of Asghar's communications with nephew and Pakistani terrorist who executed the conspiracy Mohammad Umar Farooq, later killed in an encounter in J&K in March 2019 along with accomplice and IED expert Kamran, to conclusively establish origins of the terror conspiracy in Pakistan.
According to the NIA chargesheet, it was on the directions from the top Jaish leadership based in Pakistan, including Masood Azhar and his deputy Rauf Asghar, that a local Jaish fidayeen hailing from Pulwama, Adil Ahmad Dar, had driven an explosives-laden car into a CRPF convoy, killing 40 force personnel. Sources said there is a mention of the role of Pakistan-based elements in the Pulwama conspiracy, though a direct reference to Pakistani state agencies like ISI has been avoided for now.
The chargesheet, said NIA sources, names around 20 persons as accused. These include seven accused arrested by the investigators since February this year -- overground Jaish worker Shakir Bashir Magrey who provided shelter to and drove Adil to the attack site; Tariq Ahmed Shah and Ishan Jan who harboured the perpetrators; Waiz ul Islam who used his Amazon online shopping account to buy chemicals used to make the IED; Mohd Abbas Rather who sheltered the Jaish terrorists in the run-up to the attack; Mohd Iqbal Rather who facilitated movement of Pakistani IED maker Umer Farooq to Kashmir after he infiltrated from Pakistan into Jammu in 2018; and Bilal Ahmed Kuchey who arranged shelter for Jaish terrorists behind the strike and also provided the mobile phone used to record video clip of the bomber Adil prior to the attack.
Other key terrorists involved in the attack but already dead include Muddasir Ahmad Khan, (JeM’s Divisional Commander of South Kashmir killed in an operation by security forces on 11-03-2019) Pakistani terrorists viz. Muhammad Umar Farooq and IED expert Kamran, (both killed on 29-03-2019) the owner of the car fitted with IED Sajjad Ahmad Bhat r/o Marhama, Anantnag (killed on 16-06-2019) and Qari Yassir, JeM’s Commander for Kashmir (killed on 25-01-2020).
The chargesheet, running into over 5,000 pages, will put out a digital trail of communications and messages to establish the link between the accused who executed or facilitated the attack and the Pakistan-based Jaish masterminds.
The Pulwama attack had led to a major retaliation from the Indian side, with Indian Air Force jets hitting Jaish facilities as part of cross-border strikes in Balakot deep inside Pakistan.