SRINAGAR, India — Authorities have detained more than 40 suspects for questioning as part of the investigation into the terror attack at Gagangir in Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed the lives of seven people. Officials believe the attack, which occurred at a tunnel construction site, was meticulously planned, aided by a network of terrorist associates.
A senior police officer stated, “We will get them sooner or later. We have picked up several suspects for questioning, but no arrests have been made so far.” In response to the attack, security forces launched a large-scale combing operation in the area near the tourist destination of Sonamarg.
Agents from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) are on-site collecting evidence, while Army and police units search the surrounding hills for the assailants and their accomplices. Eyewitness accounts describe a chilling scene, with attackers initially targeting the workers’ mess before moving on to the officers’ quarters. Officials suspect the assailants, believed to be Pakistani terrorists, may have had prior knowledge of the site.
CCTV footage from the area is currently under review, and the shadowy group known as the Resistance Front, linked to the banned Lashker-e-Taiba, has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Among the victims were Dr. Shahnawaz Dar and six labourers: Faheem Nasir, Kaleem, Mohammad Hanif, Shashi Abrol, Anil Shukla, and Gurmeet Singh. The attack, occurring late in the evening as staff returned to their camp, marks one of the deadliest incidents targeting non-local workers in the Kashmir valley in over three decades.
In the wake of the attack, political leaders condemned the violence. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah expressed a commitment to progress in the region despite such acts of terror, while Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha vowed to hold Pakistan accountable for instigating violence.
