2019 Pulwama attack: NIA files chargesheet against Jaish chief, his brother; 17 Ors’

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Tuesday filed a charge-sheet against Jaish-e-Muhammad chief Masood Azhar, his brother Rauf Asghar and 17 other accused in connection with the February 2019 suicide attack at Pulwama in South Kashmir that claimed lives of 40 CRPF men.
The 13,500 page charge-sheet lists 19 accused and comprises details how the planning and execution of the deadliest attack was done by Jaish chief along with his brother besides six militants named in the list who have been killed, seven others arrested and five are still missing including three Pakistanis, the statement issued by the NIA said.
It states that on February 14, 2019, 40 CRPF men were killed when a suicide bomber Aadil Ahmad Dar rammed a car full of explosives into a security convoy at Lethpora, Pulwama.
The statement said that the main conspirator behind the attack was Jaish Mohammed militant Umar Farooq, who is son of Azhar’s elder brother who brought 20 Kg of RDX from Pakistan via Samba in Jammu and was killed by forces in March 2020.
“Other explosives like ammonium nitrate were procured through e-commerce platform,” the charge sheet reads adding that after Pulwama attack, JeM had planned another attack and kept suicide bombers ready but that was thwarted through Balakot air strikes.
Chargesheet also includes Masood Azhar’s Video and Audio recording praising Pulwama besides Jaish Telegram posts.
The key conspirators according to NIA named in the Chargesheet are Aadil Ahmad Dar, the suicide bomber, Umar Farooq, who assembled the bomb used in the attack, Shakir Bashir Magray, who drove the car near to the attack spot, Mohamed Iqbal Rather from Budgam who facilitated transport from picking up Pakistan based militants to Kashmir, Bashir Ahmad Kuchey who brought high end mobile phones besides these the other accused are Mohammed Abbas Rather, Waiz ul Islam, Tariq Ahmad Shah and his daughter Insha Jan.
“In total there are 19 accused including two prime conspirators—Masood Azar and his brother Rauf,” the NIA statement read