Operation Mahadev: Indian Army killed Pahalgam terror attack mastermind in encounter

In a major breakthrough, the Indian Army on Monday killed the mastermind of the Pahalgam terror attack along with two of his associates during an encounter in a forested area on the outskirts of Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar. According to officials, Sulieman Shah was believed to be the mastermind of the April 22 attack. He was neutralised after security forces launched a swift operation, codenamed 'Operation Mahadev', triggered by a technical lead involving a satellite phone signal linked to the Pahalgam assailants.

The encounter unfolded in the dense forests of Harwan near Dachigam on Monday, where security forces engaged in a fierce gunfight with heavily armed militants. Officials confirmed that at least three terrorists were gunned down in the operation. The two other terrorists have been identified as Jibran and Hamza Afghani. Jibran was allegedly involved in last year's terror strike at the Sonamarg



tunnel project at Gagangir in October last year. Seven people, including a doctor, were killed in the attack. The bodies of the slain terrorists have been handed over to local police, which helped in the identification process, for carrying out legal formalities and final rites as per the standard operating procedure.

It is to be noted here that security forces had launched a massive operation to track down the perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack that left 26 people dead, and intelligence inputs over the past month had suggested that the terrorists might have moved towards the Dachigam area, which is around 20 km from Srinagar's city centre.

The security forces, acting on an intelligence input, launched an anti-militancy operation in the Mulnar area of Harwan on Monday morning. Two rounds of gunshots were heard from a distance as security forces were carrying out searches of the area.