Intel Warned of Tourist Attack in Srinagar Days Before Pahalgam Massacre, Officials Reveal

The intelligence agencies had, days before the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, flagged the potential targeting of tourists especially in hotels located on the outskirts of Srinagar in the foothills of Zabarwan range, as such sources said on Saturday. This was followed by increased force presence in these areas with high-ranking police officials camping in Srinagar to oversee the combing operation around Dachigam, Nishat, and adjacent areas.

The security position in the area was further aggravated by the attack last year in October on a construction site in Gangangir, Sonamarg when seven men, including a doctor, were shot dead. The area lies on the other side of Zaberwan, overlooking the city of Srinagar.

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During these two weeks, security forces intensively searched the exercise outside Srinagar in view of the above intelligence inputs; no breakthrough, however, was achieved and the operation was wrapped up on April 22 on which day terrorists targeted tourists in the Pahalgam area, killing 26 of them.

There were inputs to suggest a plan for this dastardly act during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the first week of April to flag off the first train from Katra to Srinagar.

Certainly, the officials said, the railway link being constructed to join the valley with the rest of the country has left Pakistan furious. They, however, added that the prime minister's visit earlier scheduled for April 19 was canceled due to advanced weather forecasts of high-speed winds in Katra.

The officials further made it clear that weather conditions have been cited as the only reason for postponement, with announcement of new inauguration dates also expected soon. According to officials, state and non-state actors seated across the borders never want the powerful visuals to get international attention when the first train is flagged off.

On Pahalgam attack, a clear picture that is emerging so far is that two local terrorists have already mingled with the tourists and as the first shot was fired, tourists were ushered towards a food court complex where two other terrorists, suspectedly Pakistanis, opened fire and killed 26.

Sources claim that the mission of the attack is to create terror in mind of citizens and then possibly justice seeking revenge on Kashmiris elsewhere in the country. But, with swift action by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who spoke with the high brass in New Delhi, the orders are being sent to state governments to ensure safety of Kashmiri locals in their states.

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In recent months, the officials have also indicated a worrying trend in the type of terrorism emerging in Jammu and Kashmir, with more and more high-technology weapons like M-series rifles, sniper rifles, and armour-piercing bullets being recovered from encounter sites, which are all believed to be leftover weapons and ammunition of NATO troops in Afghanistan.

Officials also cautioned about the danger of relying solely on tourist receipts in Jammu and Kashmir, as was the case of former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who once referred to tourist entries as the index of normalcy.

Just a few months post the statement, in May 2006, four tourists were said to have lost their lives, and six were injured when terrorists attacked a bus with tourists from Gujarat in Srinagar, when it was almost near Mughal Gardens. Officials say, tourism can be viewed as an economic activity rather than a barometer of normalcy in a conflict situation.

Concerning the reports of Baisaran not being opened to tourists, officials clarified that this area is open for public all year round, except during Amarnath Yatra or for a duration of heavy snowfall.

The Jammu and Kashmir administration had indeed issued a tender for Baisaran; it was awarded to a local from South Kashmir last August for a period of three years against Rs 3 crore. The whole Baisaran meadow has since been fenced in and even a zipline facility has been created.

The officials said stopping the house blasting has been undertaken at the request of the elected government of Jammu and Kashmir, recently used in counter-terrorism operations. There should be a note taken in New Delhi on all spontaneous protests occurring in the Kashmir valley after Pahalgam killing with such impact that they seemed to resurrect public movements seen in New Delhi during the Nirbhaya case.

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