Anantnag: Three Lashkar-e-Toiba militants, killed in a brief encounter in Anantnag on Monday evening, are suspected to have been involved in the attack on Amarnath pilgrims on the evening of July 10. The attack, carried out in the Battengoo area of Anantnag, left eight pilgrims dead and as many as 32 injured.
The militants were ambushed and killed by security forces in the Bul Bul Nowgam area on the outskirts of Anantnag town. The militants were travelling in a private vehicle when they were ambushed. A senior police official from Anantnag said today that the militants might have been involved in the attack on Amarnath pilgrims.
“It’s a matter of investigation but initial leads point towards their involvement in the attack. The slain militants were part of the LeT group that carried out the attack,” the police official said.
The police after the yatra attack had maintained that a group of Lashkar militants, led by a Pakistani national, Abu Ismail, was involved in the crime.
Director General of Police SP Vaid said he was not sure of their involvement in the Amarnath attack. “I am not too sure about that but the truth is that they belonged to the same group which carried out the attack,” Vaid said. The Army, too, on the basis of inputs from the police, maintained that the slain militants were involved in the attack.