Pahalgam attack mastermind Hashim Musa served as Pakistans ex-SSG commando
Security forces successfully eliminated Hashim Musa, alias Suleiman Shah, the alleged mastermind behind the deadly Pahalgam terrorist attack that killed 26 people in April. Musa, a former Pakistani SSG commando and LeT operative, was killed alongside two other terrorists in Srinagar's Daqchigham National Park during "Operation Mahadev."
In a major counter-terrorism operation, security forces eliminated Hashim Musa, alias Suleiman Shah, the alleged mastermind behind the deadly Pahalgam terrorist attack in which 25 tourists and one local Kashmiri were killed on April 22.
According to the sources, Musa was a former elite Special Service Group (SSG) commando of the Pakistan Army and a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative. He was killed along with two other terrorists in an encounter near Daqchigham National Park in Srinagar city earlier today. This operation was named "Operation Mahadev". This comes after a three-month hunt for the top foreign terrorists operating in Kashmir.
Shah reportedly infiltrated India in September 2023. Sources informed News9 that he was a key figure in orchestrating terror activities in South Kashmir and was reportedly involved in almost six major attacks. The Jammu and Kashmir Police had placed a bounty of Rs 20 lakh for providing information about his presence.
The anti-terror operation was jointly conducted by the Army, CRPF, and Jammu and Kashmir Police, following specific intelligence inputs about a terrorist hideout deep within a forest area in the Harwan area of Srinagar city.
To conduct the operation, which was named "Operation Mahadev", additional reinforcements were deployed to comb the area. The security forces recovered arms and ammunition from the hideout, including multiple guns, a carbine, AK-47 rifles, and rifle grenades. To end this operation successfully, security forces utilised electronic surveillance to track a Chinese ultra radio communication device to trace the terrorists' location.