Indian security agencies have confirmed that three militants killed in “Operation Mahadev” on July 28 were Pakistani nationals linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba, using biometric, forensic, and GPS evidence to establish their identities.
The suspects had been involved in an April terror attack, which killed 26 civilians in Jammu and Kashmir. Operation Mahadev was a months-long counter-terrorism campaign led by the Indian Army’s 4 Para unit, CRPF and J&K Police that began in May of this year and culminated in the Dachigam forest last week.
Biometrics Pin Down Identities
Authorities identified the slain militants as Suleman Shah (alias Faizal Jatt), believed to be the ringleader; Abu Hamza (alias Afghan); and Yasir (alias Jibran). Investigators retrieved fingerprint minutiae and facial templates from recovered micro SD cards containing portions of Pakistan’s NADRA biometric database. Officials say these matched known profiles in the database, along with Pakistani voter ID records and family lineage data.
“For the first time, we have government-issued Pakistani documents in hand that nail the nationality of the Pahalgam attackers beyond doubt,” a senior counter-terrorism official told PTI. The biometric data was extracted and hashed by India’s ABIS system and cross-verified using a satellite phone memory card recovered from the scene.
Additional forensic evidence included a Garmin Forerunner GPS watch recovered from Suleman Shah, which stored a GPX movement log matching eyewitness reports of terrorist positions at the Baisaran meadow during the attack. Shell casings recovered at the Pahalgam site matched AK-103 (7.62×39 mm) and M9 (5.56 mm) rifles seized during the encounter. DNA samples taken from the scene were processed at the Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Chandigarh using NextSeq 550 equipment and matched to tissue from the deceased with 99.998 percent confidence.
Parliament Details Tech-Led Hunt
Union Home Minister Amit Shah briefed Parliament on the coordinated counter-terror operation. The operation relied on ground-based sensors, UAV surveillance, and electronic signal interception to locate the hideout in Dachigam forest. Authorities say the militants infiltrated across the Line of Control near Gurez in May 2022 and were sheltered by two Kashmiri accomplices prior to the Pahalgam attack.
Recovered materials included Pakistani-made food items, micro SD cards with digital evidence, and encrypted satellite communication logs. Officials say the compiled biometric, forensic, and geolocation evidence will form part of a formal diplomatic dossier alleging direct state complicity by Pakistan.
Sources: Times of India, NDTV, Indian Express
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By Ji-seo Kim
