The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested two men for allegedly harbouring the terrorists who killed 26 civilians in Pahalgam two months ago, the agency said on Sunday, marking the first set of arrests in connection with the terror attack. ITBP personnel patrol an area at Betaab Valley of Pahalgam ahead of reopening of tourists places in the area, which were closed in view of security considerations after the April 22 Pahalgam attack, in Anantnag district, Sunday (PTI)

In a statement, NIA said that Pahalgam residents Parvaiz Ahmad Jothar and Bashir Ahmad Jothar knew about the terror affiliations of the three gunmen and provided them with shelter, food and logistical support in the days leading up to the April 22 attack.

“Parvaiz and Bashir had knowingly harboured the three armed terrorists at a seasonal dhok (hut) at Hill Park before the attack. The two men had provided food, shelter and logistical support to the terrorists who selectively killed the tourists on the basis of their religious identity,” the anti-terror agency said in a statement and added the two have been charged under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act’s (UAPA) Section 19 (punishment for harbouring or concealing a terrorist). The agency did not disclose further information about the two men.

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Since the terror strike, security forces have killed six terrorists in separate encounters across Kashmir, but the Pahalgam attackers remain at large. Authorities detained close to 2,000 people for questioning in the aftermath of the attack.

“The duo has also disclosed the identities of the three armed terrorists involved in the attack, and have also confirmed that they were Pakistani nationals affiliated to the proscribed terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT),” the anti-terror agency said in the statement.

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Authorities earlier identified the suspected attackers as Hashim Musa, also known as Suleiman, and Ali Bhai, also called Talha Bhai — both Pakistani nationals — and local operative Adil Hussain Thokker. The agency did not clarify on Sunday if the three terrorists alluded to in its statement were same as the ones identified earlier.

NIA, which is formally investigating the case, has questioned hundreds of people over two months, including suspected collaborators, pony operators, vendors and tourism workers. Investigators have also examined videos and photographs taken by families at Baisaran meadow on the day of the attack. HT reported on Sunday that security forces are pursuing two theories about the whereabouts of the terrorists, with officials divided over whether the attackers remain in hiding or have fled to Pakistan.

The Resistance Front, a proxy group for the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba organisation, claimed responsibility for the attack. Indian agencies say the group is a front used by Pakistan to avoid international sanctions.

As first reported by HT on April 24, intelligence agencies traced the attack’s digital communications to safe houses in Muzaffarabad and Karachi, establishing Pakistani involvement in what officials described as similar to the control room-operated 2008 Mumbai attacks.

India responded with Operation Sindoor on May 7, bombing nine terrorist camps across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in pre-dawn strikes that killed at least 100 militants. The operation sparked four days of cross-border fighting involving fighter jets, missiles and artillery.