Blast warning and cash trail nail Jaish's Pulwama role

NEW DELHI: In what conclusively establishes the Jaish-e-Mohammadleadership’s direct involvement in the Pulwama attack, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has found a clip of RoufAsgar, deputy chief of the Pakistan-based jihadi outfit, at a rally in Pakistan days before the February 14, 2019, strike, warning that a big explosion would take place in India and badly rattle the government in New Delhi.
Sources familiar with details of the investigation said in the audio clip, Rouf, brother of Jaish chief Masood Azhar, while addressing a rally in Pakistan 2-3 days before the Pulwama strike, is heard saying menacingly, “Jald hi ek bada dhamakahoga… Indian government ki dhajjiyan uddjayengi” (A big explosion will happen soon… it will tear the government of India to shreds).”
The NIA chargesheet, filed on Tuesday after painstaking investigations spanning one-and-a-half years, cited two separate audio clips of Rouf — one paying rich tributes to Pulwama fidayeen Adil AhmadDar and the other to Mohammad UmarFarooq, the key mastermind who oversaw execution of the “well-planned” Jaishconspiracy and was killed in an encounter a month later. Rouf can be heard referring to Umar, his nephew, as “pyaare Umar” in the second clip.
Forty CRPF personnel were killed when Jaish bomber Dar, trained by Umar on the directions of his uncles Masood Azhar, Rouf and Ammar Alvi, drove an explosives-laden car into a CRPF convoy on the national highway in Pulwama. The IAF retaliated with cross-border strikes on key Jaish facilities in Balakot, Pakistan.
The NIA has also established the trail of money paid to Umar by the Jaishleadership in Pakistan. A source told TOI that Rs 10.36 lakh in Pakistani rupees was deposited in Umar’s two accounts in Meezan Bank and Allied Bank.
NIA investigators said there were six main challenges before it while cracking the Pulwama case. First, the scene of crime was unusual with pieces of human flesh and mangled metal strewn all around, making forensics a challenge. Second was establishing what vehicle was used; third, identifying the perpetrators and the fidayeen; fourth, tracing the source explosives used; fifth, identifying the organisation behind the attack; and sixth, authenticating the video of the bomber that went viral after the attack.
NIA officers said they pursued a wrong line of investigation for six months, misled by the interrogation of a terrorist (Mudassir, who was subsequently killed) by J&K police regarding two bags of explosives seen in Pulwama. “For six months, we followed that lead before local intelligence led us to Shakir Bashir, a top Jaish overground worker in Pulwama. Bashir was evasive in the initial rounds of questioning but opened up after some days and disclosed the identity of four of the perpetrators: Umar, Sameer Dar, AdilDar and Mohd Ismail,” an officer told TOI.
The agency was meanwhile scanning seizures from all terrorists killed in J&K post-Pulwama. Around this time, J&K police told the NIA that they had partially broken into the phone of Umar, killed in March 2019, and retrieved photos pointing to a Pulwama link. The NIA sent for the phone and took the help of CERT-In to fully open it. What was retrieved was deleted but extremely crucial data — WhatsApp Business messages, chats, videos, audio clips, bank transaction trails and pictures of Umar, Sameer, Ismail, Shakir and Adil at different stages of the conspiracy.
Adil’s identity had already been established with the help of a skin tissue retrieved from a piece of the blown-up car, which matched with his father’s DNA.
The make of the vehicle was established with the help of the exploded car’s crankshaft found in the debris. The car, a Maruti Eeco, had changed hands nine times before landing with Sajjad AhmedBhat. Sajjad was a known Jaishoverground worker which established the terror outfit’s link.
The perpetrators and overground workers were identified with the help of Shakir, who upon being confronted with data retrieved from Umar’s phone, revealed details of the explosives used and how they were procured with the help of overground workers. Soon, OGWs who sheltered Umar and others were also identified. Among them, Insha Jan was very close to Umar.
“After the strike, the attackers and InshaJan even exchanged congratulatory messages. The video clip of Adil was shot at her house,” an officer said.
Data recovered from Umar’s phone helped establish how Pakistan-based Jaishleaders had originally scheduled the attack on February 5 to coincide with Kashmir Solidarity Day. However, the plan was delayed.
The NIA also established Adil’s video as authentic. The probe showed it was shot in January-end. Adil fumbled with the audio, which was then recorded in the voice of Sameer Dar, with Adil lip-syncing. The video was sent to Pakistan for editing and came back to Umar who released it.