TRF modus operandi part of NIA's Pahalgam probe

As National Investigation Agency widens its probe into the Pahalgam terror attack, officials said the focus is on the now withdrawn claim by Lashkar-e-Taiba offshoot The Resistance Force. Investigators have found TRF's modus operandi, wherein attackers record the killings on body cam and later release it on social media.

TRF, which claimed responsibility for the 2023 Anantnag encounter, used similar modus operandi in which three officers, two from the Army and one from J&K Police, were killed during an anti-militancy operation in Anantnag district on September 13. Later, the images were released on social media. Similarly, the group has been using the Telegram channel to release its statements, officials added.

TRF, during the 2023 Rajouri attack on civilians, was found making similar claims regarding attacks. NIA, which later probed the civilian killings, had named LeT handlers Saifullah alias Sajid Jutt, Mohd Qasim and Abu Qatal. Qatal, who was wanted by NIA for the 2024 Reasi bus attack, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in the Jhelum area of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in March this year, as per reports.

After initially making claims for the attack, investigators said they were expecting that the group would release some videos to strengthen its claim which might help them identify the perpetrators. However, facing pressure from Pakistan after their name was mentioned in the UNSC draft statement on Pahalgam, the outfit released a statement withdrawing the claims.

As first reported by ET, the claim was withdrawn following Pakistan influencing the UNSC to omit TRF's name from the statement, supported by China. Pakistan's foreign minister on April 29 informed Pakistan's National Assembly that since the group emerged after Article 370 was revoked in J&K in 2019, the outfit was merely a 'forum' formed by the local population, rejecting its classification as a terror group.