Udhampur terror attack: Amarnath Yatra was main target, NIA to take on probe

NEW DELHI: The home ministry will hand over investigation of the Udhampur terror attack to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday. The NIA will then seek custody of Usman Naved, the Pakistani attacker caught alive, for an extensive interrogation.

Meanwhile, minister of state for personnel and Udhampur MP Jitendra Singh told TOI on Wednesday that the attack was clearly targeted at the Amarnath yatra. "It appears disrupting the yatra was the prime motive of the terrorists, given thatthe BSF convoy was targeted on the national highway that forms the route to Amarnath," Singh said.

Describing Naved as a prize catch, he said, "Not only will his arrest conclusively prove Pakistan's complicity, given that he was sent all the way from Faisalabad, he will also be a crucial source of information on Pakistan-based terror networks that have been launching terror attacks againstIndia with impunity."

Naved's interrogation, sources said, will also examine any possible linkages with the Gurdaspur attacks, also carried out by suspected Pakistani terrorists who infiltrated into Punjab through a gap in Ravi river.

According to sources, intelligence reports in the recent past have repeatedly highlighted the possibility of a terror attack in Udhampur. "Not only does it house the headquarters of the Northern Command, it has also become more vulnerable due to the ongoing Amarnath yatra. The highway passing through Udhampur is a key route for Amarnath yatris, making the district a much sought-after target of terror outfits like LeT," an intelligence official told TOI.

Incidentally, a bus carrying Amarnath yatris had passed the attack site just before the BSF convoy was hit.