CCTV footage of red Eeco car used in Pulwama attack found, suicide bomber seen driving: NIA sources

NEW DELHI: The National Investigating Agency has recovered the CCTV footage of the red Eeco car which is likely to have been used for the Pulwama terror attack. The video was recorded before the suicide bomber rammed into the convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force leading to the death of 40 personnel.

As per NIA sources, the CCTV footage shows the red Eeco car in which the Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber Adil Ahmad Dar is also visible driving the vehicle. On the basis of the video footage, the NIA has identified the owner of the car. The owner is said to have been missing since the day of the attack. 

The car is likely to be of 2010-11 model which had been repainted. The investigating teams had also found shockers of the car from the site which can be assessed to ascertain the year in which the car may have been made.   

As per eye witness accounts, a man in a red Eeco van was repeatedly seen near the convoy. The four escorts in bus number three had reportedly told him at least twice or thrice to move away from the convoy but he kept swerving right and left. As per sources, he spent a minute or two trying to hit the convoy before he was finally successful in his ill-intentions and slammed the bus killing 40 personnel. He is believed to have been tailing the convoy from Jammu. 

The attack took place on Thursday when CRPF's 76th Battalion was returning from leave to join duty in Srinagar. The bus ride began from Jammu at 2.33 am. As the convoy reached Lethpora, just 27 km short of Srinagar, an explosive-laden car rammed into the fifth bus from the left side. A second bus was also hit in the blast. Gunshots were heard in the area, but no one knew as to who fired. 

A CRPF man, who was traveling in the convoy, said the massive blast stunned all. "There was total mayhem and confusion -- all I could see was thick smoke. We were told to stay back in our vehicles as ROP was in place," a CRPF trooper said. "We got to know about the deadly blast when I received a WhatsApp message. As we got down we saw the mayhem - badly mutilated and burnt limbs of our colleagues and a smouldering fire. We were taken immediately to a nearby camp," he said.