The National Investigation Agency on Sunday took over the inquiry into the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, as per orders from the Union home ministry.

The agency said its teams, which have been camping at the site of the attack since April 23, have intensified their search for evidence.

Twenty-six persons were killed and 17 others were injured in the attack on April 22.

The attack took place in the Baisaran area of Anantnag district. Militants fired at tourists, most of whom were from outside the state. The terrorists targeted tourists after asking their names to ascertain their religion, the police said. All but three of those who died were Hindu.

Here is more on this and other top updates:

  • The National Investigation Agency said that its teams, overseen by an Inspector General of Police, a Deputy Inspector General of Police and a Superintendent of Police, were examining “eyewitnesses who had seen the horrifying attack unfold before their eyes at the peaceful and picturesque Baisaran valley”. The agency added that the witnesses were being questioned to piece together the sequence of events that led to the attack. “The entry and exit points are being closely scrutinised by the investigating NIA teams for clues to the modus operandi of the terrorists,” the statement said, adding that teams, aided by forensic and other experts, were checking the area for evidence to expose the conspiracy behind the attack.
  • The Pahalgam terror attack came at a time when peace and prosperity were returning to Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday in his monthly Mann ki Baat radio programme. “This attack in Pahalgam shows the desperation of the patrons of terrorism,” he said. He said that the attack took place “at a time when peace was returning to Kashmir” and tourism was increasing at a record rate. “The enemies of the country, the enemies of Jammu and Kashmir did not like this,” the prime minister said. Modi said that the perpetrators and conspirators of the attack would be met with the “harshest response”. He assured the families of the victims that they would “get justice at any cost”.
  • The Assam Police has arrested a woman from Golaghat district for allegedly making “anti-national” remarks about the Pahalgam terror attack, ANI reported on Sunday. The woman, identified as Dadhichi Dimple alias Dimple Baruah, was initially detained by the Crime Branch from Guwahati but was later handed over to the Golaghat Police. “The Golaghat Police arrested her and brought her to the Golaghat police station,” Golaghat Superintendent of Police Rajen Singh said. On Saturday, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that anybody in Assam found to be “directly or indirectly” supporting Pakistan in the aftermath of the attack would be charged under the National Security Act. The Act allows for long periods of detention without trial and suspends important rights of the accused person, including the right to legal representation and immediate information about the cause of the arrest.
  • The Kashmir Hotel Association in Srinagar on Saturday said that 80% of tourist bookings in the valley have been cancelled in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, The Hindu reported. “There have been 80% cancellations in bookings,” the newspaper quoted Mushtaq Chaya, chairperson of the association, as saying. “We can understand. It is justified and natural given what happened.” Stakeholders in the tourism industry in the Union Territory were not worried by the dent to business, Chaya said, adding that they were however “sad with the fact that the incident took place on our soil”.
  • For the third day in a row, the Pakistan Army on Sunday resorted to unprovoked firing along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, reported PTI, quoting unidentified defence officials. The Indian forces responded effectively, said the officials. On Friday and Saturday too, the Pakistan Army opened small arms fire at locations along the Line of Control, resulting in the Indian military retaliating. This comes amid diplomatic tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack. “On the intervening night of April 26-27, Pakistan Army posts initiated unprovoked small arms fire across the LoC [Line of Control] in areas opposite the Tutmari Gali and the Rampur sectors,” PTI quoted the officials as saying on Sunday. The Indian Army “responded effectively with appropriate small arms fire”.