New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) India has managed to clearly establish a direct Pakistan hand in the Pahalgam attack in which 26 innocent lives were lost. After a painstaking probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), it was established that the attack was handled from Lahore by Saifullah alias Sajid Jatt alias Langde, a top operative of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba.  A clear pattern has come to light before and after the terror attack that took place on April 22, 2025 in which 26 people were killed.Investigations suggest that Pakistan had thought it would get away with the attack. However as the international condemnation grew and India began preparing for a strong response, the Pakistanis did not want to have anything to do with the attack.An official explained that it all began with the provocative statements made by Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir.

Munir had said days before the attack during an Overseas Pakistanis Convention that "Kashmir is our jugular vein, it will be out jugular vein and we will not forget it."He also spoke about the two-nation theory and highlighted explicitly the differences between Hindus and Muslims.This was aimed at ideological division. Prior to this, he had spoken about war. Munir said that three wars had been fought for Kashmir and if need be, then ten more would be fought.An official said that these statements were aimed at inciting violence and it went on to become the platform for the Pahalgam terror attack on India.The official pointed out that the sequence of events post the Pahalgam attack had the Pakistanis worried. All of a sudden they wanted to have nothing to do with the attack. The NIA describes this clearly in its chargesheet when speaking about The Resistance Front. The outfit, which is an offshoot of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, had claimed responsibility for the attack, but immediately withdrew.

The claim was made on a Telegram channel called ‘Kashmir Fight.’ However, when the heat was up and the Pakistanis realised that the Narendra Modi government was planning harsh retaliation, The Resistance Front withdrew its statement and claimed that its Telegram channel had been hacked.Another official explained that ideally The Resistance Front would have wanted to tom-tom about the attack and its capabilities in Jammu and Kashmir. However, the outfit was advised by the Pakistani establishment to withdraw that statement.After having withdrawn the statement, the Pakistanis indulged in a false flag narrative. It wanted to send out a message that the attack was carried out by someone else and there was no Pakistani link to it.Another key aspect that played on the minds of the Pakistanis was the change of doctrine. India said that an act of terror would not be treated as cross-border terror, but as an act of war. It was clear that despite Asim Munir’s tall claims about being ready for ten more wars, the Pakistan army was clearly not ready or prepared for a fight with India.

This explains the false flag narrative, the official added. The NIA’s probe found that the Telegram channel ‘Kashmir Fight’ was being operated from Battagram area in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).A second channel called 'The Resistance Front OfFcial' which was also used to guide the Pahalgam attack was being operated from Rawalpindi, according to the probe by the NIA.The mobile phones that were recovered from the Pahalgam attackers who were killed during 'Operation Mahadev' also helped the NIA establish the Pakistan link.One of the phones was purchased online and sent to an address in Lahore’s Qaid-e-Azam Industrial Estate. The second phone was purchased from Karachi, the NIA found.The NIA said that the entire operation was managed, staged and handled from Pakistan by Saifullah and this suggests the direct role of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba.

The NIA also identified two Pakistani locals, Bashir Ahmed and Parvez who helped the Pakistani terrorists carry out the attack. Further the NIA said that on April 15 and 16, the Lashkar-e-Tayiba sent Faisal Jatt alias Suleiman, Habib Tahir alias Chhotu, and Hamza Afghani (all Pakistanis) to carry out a reconnaissance of the Baisaran Valley. This helped them understand the security arrangements in the area.The Pahalgam attack was then carried out on April 22 and during the entire duration of the strike the terrorists were provided real time information that included coordinates and other logistical data.India hit back by carrying out 'Operation Sindoor', during which a significant number of terror infrastructure belonging to the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen were razed to rubble.

/IANS