Kulgam: The Jammu and Kashmir Police have revealed that the Pahalgam terrorists, who claimed 26 lives in April this year, purchased mobile phone chargers from leading e-commerce platforms to maintain communication with their handlers and overground workers (OGWs).
A local man from Kulgam, accused of providing logistical support to the group, has now been arrested in Srinagar.
Chargers traced through e-commerce platforms
Officials recovered three mobile phone chargers during Operation Mahadev in the Dachigam forests where the attackers were killed in July. According to a report by News18, police confirmed that one of the chargers was bundled with a Vivo T2X 5G (Aurora Gold) handset. Verification with Vivo and Flipkart traced the purchase to Musaib Ahmad Chopan of Iqbal Computers, who admitted selling the device to Muhammad Yousuf Katari.
Records showed Katari made a payment of Rs 14,500 via mPay on May 24, corroborated by J&K Bank transactions. During questioning, Katari confessed to assisting the slain terrorists, identified as Afghan Bhai, Suleman Shah and Jibran, while they hid in the Dachigam forests. The trio had earlier been named by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for the killings in Baisaran meadow.
Arrest of overground worker
On Wednesday, September 24, police confirmed the arrest of Katari, a 26-year-old resident of Kulgam, in Srinagar. Officials said he had acted as an on-ground worker (OGW) for the Pahalgam attackers, arranging logistics and possibly reconnaissance ahead of the killings. The attackers were later eliminated in Operation Mahadev on July 28 in the Lidwas area of Dachigam.
Police have obtained a 15-day custody remand to question Katari about possible links to other OGWs. Officials added that his arrest could help establish the escape routes used by the terrorists and expose a wider support network.
In June, the NIA had already arrested two other locals, Bashir Ahmad Jothar from Hill Park and Parvaiz Ahmad from Batkote, both accused of providing assistance to the same group.
