Same team of JeM planned Lethpora and Pulwama attack, probe suggests

New Delhi, Apr 09: The interrogation of Nisar Ahmed Tantray, a Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist deported from the UAE suggests that the Lethpora CRPF camp attack case and the Pulwama strike are inter-linked.

In the early part of April, Tantray a top JeM terrorist wanted in the Lethpora case was deported from the UAE to India. Post the attack in 2017, he had fled India for the UAE.

During his interrogation, he has told officials that he was informed about the attack. He told officials of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) that he was asked for help, but also added that he had nothing to do with the attack.

An NIA official tells OneIndia that Tantray may have helped arrange the logistics for the attack at Pulwama in which 40 CRPF jawans were martyred. The attack took place on February 14 2019 and two weeks prior to that, Tantray had fled.

The NIA officer also said that Tantray is a senior operative and knew the operations of the JeM very well. He was also well versed with the terrain due to his experience and hence we suspect that he had played a much larger role in the Pulwama attack as well.

Further, the NIA also says that he was in constant touch with Mudassir Khan, the main conspirator of the Pulwama attack. The Pulwama strike was not planned on a need to know basis. Many top trusted operatives had known about the attack, the officer further explained.

Meanwhile, the NIA is also questioning Syed Hilal Andrabi, an over ground worker of the JeM. He was arrested on April 7 for his role in the Lethpora case. The attack was carried out on the intervening night of December 31, 2017. During the probe the NIA identified Fardeen Ahmad, Manzoor Baba and Abdul Shakoor as the prime accused in the case. All three had been killed by security forces following the attack.

Arrested accused Syed Hilal Andrabi is an active OGW (Over Ground Worker) of proscribed terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad. He is a key conspirator who provided logistic support in the form of sheltering the terrorists and conducting reconnaissance of the CRPF Group centre, Lethpora before the terrorist attack. With the arrest of Syed Hilal Andrabi, total no of accused arrested in this case has risen to four.

Three accused already arrested for being a part of the conspiracy for this attack include Fayaz Ahmad Magrey, Manzoor Ahmed Bhat and Nisar Ahmed Tantray.

Nisar is the brother of Noor Mohammad Tantray, who was one referred to as the 'merchant of death,' by a Delhi court. Noor had been killed in an encounter, just a few days before the Lethpora attack.