The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is close to a breakthrough in the investigation of the attack on a Central Reserve Police Force convoy in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama in February 2019, the agency said on Thursday, February 27.
Over 40 CRPF personnel were killed in the suicide attack by a Jaish-e-Mohommad operative, a Pakistan based terrorist outfit. The attack had led to the escalation of tensions between the two nuclear states.
‘In the Pulwama attack case, in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed in the suicide attack, significant leads have emerged and a breakthrough in the case is expected shortly,’ a statement by the agency said.
The statement came in the wake of reports that a special court had granted bail to an accused in the Pulwama attack case. Raising the issue, the Congress said it was an ‘insult’ to the security personnel killed in the terror attack.
Clarifying on the bail of Yousuf Chopan, one of the seven over ground workers arrested in connection with a terror case, the NIA said that it had found no evidence against Chopan linking him to the Pulwama case.
Chopan was arrested along with six others in the case. Two more accused were killed in an encounter. One of them, Mudassir Ahmed Khan, was alleged to have been involved in the Pulwama attack.
‘During the investigation in the JeM conspiracy case, seven Over Ground Workers (OGWs) were arrested. However, out of which six accused were charge-sheeted in two charge sheets and Yousuf Chopan was not charge-sheeted due to inadequate evidence,’ the statement said.
As such he has been granted default bail by Spl. NIA Court New Delhi on 18.02.2020 and he has been sent back to Kot Bhalwal Jail Jammu under Public Safety Act by the order of DM Pulwama. Needless to say, NIA follows the policy of fairest possible investigation, ‘ NIA said in a statement.
The Pulwama case has been stuck for several months now as all the identified accused are either dead or in Pakistan. Even though NIA identified the attacker and traced the car used in the attack to its owner, it could not move beyond as the attacker died in the suicide attack and his local handler and car owner were killed in an encounter.
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