New Delhi : When the National Investigation Agency (NIA) launched an investigation into the Pulwama attack, in which 40 CRPF personnel were martyred last year, they had no solid evidence against the culprits.
The NIA faced several challenges in the case, such as no evidence due to the death of seven accused in encounter and suicide attack, but the central agency enlisted the help of forensic tests, including DNA profiling, to gather evidence.
“It was a blind matter for us”
According to the PTI news agency, a senior officer investigating the case said, “It was a blind case for us. There were a lot of presumptions in this case, but everything needs to be proved in the court beyond doubt.”
The first challenge was to collect information about the car used for blast
According to the charge-sheet filed by the NIA in a special court in Jammu on Tuesday, the first challenge was to gather information about the car used by the suicide bomber, Adil Ahmed Dar. The car was stuffed with 200 kg of RDX, calcium-ammonium nitrate, gelatin sticks and a cocktail of aluminum powder.
Address of the owner found by gathering pieces of car
According to the charge sheet, with the help of forensic methods and intensive investigation, the serial number of the car was extracted from the pieces of the car used for the blast and within a short time, the first to the last owner of the car was traced.
Sajjad Bhat, the owner of the car killed in the encounter
However, the last owner of the car, Sajjad Bhat of Bijbehra in Anantnag district (accused in the charge sheet) disappeared a few hours before the February 14, 2019 attack and joined Jaish-e-Mohammed. He was later killed in an encounter in June last year.
“It was necessary to prove the identity of Adil Ahmed Dar”
On condition of anonymity, the officials said, “It was clear that the suicide bomber was Adil Ahmed Dar, but this had to be proved with evidence. After taking human remains from different places for this, they were sent for DNA profiling.”
He further said that the suicide bomber was identified by matching it with the blasted car and his father’s DNA. Apart from this, seven accused wanted in the case on behalf of the NIA were killed in separate encounters in 2019.
Masood Azhar’s nephew was the main conspirator
In the charge sheet of the NIA, Mohammad Omar Farooq, the nephew of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, has been described as the main conspirator of this suicide attack. According to officials, Farooq infiltrated India in April 2018 and was later killed in an encounter in South Kashmir last year.