Two Pakistanis among four terrorists involved in attack on Amarnath pilgrims, says MHA; 'highest alert' sounded across J&K

New Delhi: Four terrorists, two of them Pakistanis, are suspected to have been involved in the attack on Amarnath pilgrims, Home Ministry officials said on Wednesday.

Quoting intelligence inputs, the officials said Pakistani national and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) 'commander' Abu Ismail was the mastermind of Monday's attack which killed seven people.

He is said to have been assisted by another Pakistani and two local militants.

The terrorists are believed to have used two motorcycles to escape from the scene after attacking the pilgrims bus, officials said, as per PTI.

Police sources said that 26-year old Ismail infiltrated into the Valley two years back and has since been carrying on terror activities in south Kashmir area

Police believe the attack was carried out in revenge against the arrest of LeT terrorist Sandeep Kumar Sharma who had been produced before the media by the police.

Sharma, according to police, was involved in the killing of an SHO and five policemen in Achabal area of Anantnag district last month, as per IANS.

Security forces have launched a massive hunt for Ismail and others.

'Highest alert' sounded across J&K 

Meanwhile, as the annual pilgrimage continues, the central government issued the 'highest alert' in Jammu and Kashmir.

The alert by MHA was issued after a central ministerial team comprising Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh and Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir visited Kashmir and held extensive discussions with the top brass of the security establishment, Governor NN Vohra and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on the prevailing situation.

"Considering the unfortunate loss of life and injuries suffered by the yatris (pilgrims) in the recent terror attack, the entire security apparatus has been put on the highest alert by the ministers," a Home Ministry statement said.

The ministers visited Srinagar, following a directive from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

They discussed the security situation in detail with the CM and the Governor, before holding an in-depth security review with the local Army commander, the chief secretary, the police chief and senior officers of the state government, the DG of the CRPF and senior officers of BSF and other security agencies, the statement said.

What really happened on the fateful day

Officials said the Gujarat registered bus, which was attacked, reached at Jammu on July 7 and got registered at Amarnath shrine facilitation centre.

Initially, the bus was part of the regular convoy of the pilgrims and travelled together till Baltal.

The pilgrims in the bus paid their obeisance at the cave shrine on July 8 and returned. On the way back, the pilgrims left the convoy and drove to Srinagar.

The Gujarati pilgrims stayed in Srinagar for two days as tourists. On July 10, around 4:30 pm, they left Srinagar for Katra.

The vehicle got punctured at a place 10 km away from Khanabal around 6:30 pm. Then the passengers went down and had food at a roadside eatery.

When the bus resumed its journey, it came under attack from the terrorists at Khanabal around 20:17 hours.

Facing the bullets, the driver of the bus, Salim Sheikh, charged past the area but had to face another group of terrorists after crossing just 75 metres.

The driver again did not stop the bus despite facing the terrorist attack for the second time in quick succession.

The bus was finally stopped at a police point after a few kilometres and the policemen on duty took the pilgrims to the Anantnag police line where the injured were given first aid before being shifted to a hospital, officials said.

(With Agency inputs)