Three suspected terrorists’ photos were made public on Wednesday. They are thought to have been involved in the attack on an Air Force convoy in the Poonch area of Jammu and Kashmir on May 4. The pictures of the alleged terrorists were extracted from a CCTV film.
Corporal Vikky Pahade, an air warrior, lost his life in the attack on the two-vehicle IAF convoy at Surankote tehsil in Poonch district. Four other IAF personnel were also hurt.
Three names have reportedly surfaced in the investigation into the Poonch attack: Hadoon, Abu Hamza, the code-name of the leader of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Illiyas, a former Pakistan Army commando.
Along with offering a reward of Rs 20 lakh for any information leading to the arrest of the two terrorists suspected of carrying out the attack, the police previously released sketches of the attackers.
On Wednesday, the fifth day of the cordon and search operation (CASO) to find the terrorists who attacked an IAF convoy began.
Over five kilometers of the Surankote belt have been searched by security personnel, including the Army, police, and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), according to officials. These searches have been carried out in an area that is approximately 20 square kilometers in size.
According to officials, search operations are on in Shahsitar, Gursai, Sanai, Lasana, and Sheendara top in the Surankote belt and surrounding areas in Poonch district. The search is being conducted with the use of surveillance technology, including drones and sniffing dogs.
The officials stated that the security forces are attempting to identify the terrorists, whose three to four publicly available images were likely taken from local CCTV footage.
According to the officials, authorities are searching some CCTV footage for leads and have detained 26 people for interrogation.
They further said the Rajouri district’s Sada and Kandi areas are also part of the security forces’ Tuesday-launched search operation.