Days before Pahalgam attack, intelligence hinted at terror plans to hit tourist sites in Jammu and Kashmir

NEW DELHI: Days before the Pahalgam massacre, terror chatter picked up from across the border indicated terrorists' plans to hit tourist places in J&K, particularly hotels on outskirts of Srinagar, more specifically areas like Dachigam, etc, senior officials following the investigations told TOI on Saturday.

J&K Police sources, however, insisted that while intelligence was available on likely terror plans to target tourists and hotels, it was generic in nature, also naming non-local migrant labourers, Hindu pilgrims and Kashmiri pandits as potential targets and several areas like Kulgam, Pulwama, etc, as "vulnerable spots". There was no mention of Baisaran, which had no history of terror activity or attacks, in these inputs. The intelligence was followed up, with J&K Police brass camping in Srinagar to ensure that security at several prominent tourist places and hotels was tightened.

Sources said the two local terrorists - Adil Thoker and Asif Sheikh - in the Pahalgam attack team had blended in with the tourists before herding them into the food stalls area, making it easier for the male victims to be segregated. They added that the entry and exit to Baisaran, which is open round the year barring periods of heavy snowfall and Amarnath Yatra - is ticketed and a fence installed since a tender to manage it for three years was awarded to a Bijbehara businessman last year.

The outskirts of Srinagar in the foothills of Zabarwan range were seen as prone to attacks as a group of Pakistani terrorists linked to two attacks in Oct 2024 - at Gagangir, in which six non-local labourers and a doctor were killed, and at Buta Pathri, which left two Army personnel and two Army porters dead - was supposedly active there. Investigations so far suggest that Hashim Musa, the Pakistani assailant in Pahalgam also involved in Gagangir and Buta Pathri attacks, was in Tral along with another Pakistani and two local terrorists, days before they struck in Baisaran.

An officer said agencies have looked into the possibility of terrorists having initially planned to strike during PM Modi's April 19 visit to J&K to flag off a train service between Katra and Srinagar. The motive of the terrorists, backed by Pakistan's ISI, could have been to divert attention from the major rail infrastructure upgrade, a source said adding that when the PM's visit was called due to bad weather, the terrorists, who were possibly hiding in Tral by then, waited until April 22 to execute the attack.

A second police officer said the terrorists chose to hit tourists to demolish the 'normalcy' narrative, with the record tourist arrivals in the Valley being cited as a barometer of normalcy. Overground support, another functionary said, was a reality with three of every 10 OGWs being hardcore, ideologically committed cadre. Hitting the other seven, who may be working for some quick money, by having their houses demolished may be counter-productive as they also double up as intelligence assets, it was stressed. The houses of nearly nine OGWs in J&K were demolished in the wake of Pahalgam attack; the Omar Abdullah govt is said to have requested the Centre to exercise caution.

Officials on Saturday flagged use and recovery of sophisticated weapons - suspected to be left behind by NATO troops in Afghanistan - in Kashmir.